


Why doesn't the Nightingale sing?

by ninablossom1



Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Marvel Universe, Multi, Romance, Slow Burn, Tragic Romance, Trauma, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 19:46:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16311542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninablossom1/pseuds/ninablossom1
Summary: Love does not belong in war; but, she found out too late to save her heart from shattering onto the floor of that plane as it crashed into the frozen tundra below. Now, as she is picking up what is left of her life in the 21st century, Cecile Keane realizes even though her life from before is gone, she still has the chance to create something better for herself here.





	1. In the beginning...

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this off an on for a couple years now, so don't expect it to be finished any time soon.

"Miss Keane," she heard a voice call from the doorway. She looked up briefly from her papers.

"Howard," she responded coldly, moving to the opposite side of the lab where various chemicals were strewn about the table in tubes of far-ranging sizes.

"Cecile," he spoke again, shutting the door and going over to the papers she was looking at. "How are the tests coming along?"

"Splendidly," she responded, her French accent growing thicker as sarcasm drenched her words while she placed some goggles over her eyes and adjusted her thick gloves. "If those men you call scientists come in here again, criticize my work because I am a woman, then, have the gall to burn all my formulas calling them 'obsolete', I will personally give them a royal kick in their scrawny asses."

Howard smirked at her words. She was one of the brilliant minds helping with Project Rebirth that Erskine was working on. However, it was completely off the record and she was listed as Howard's personal assistant.

He watched her as she placed a small amount of orange powder into a beaker. "Howard, could you pass me the pipets with the um…" She squinted towards the table he was near. "The yellow and purple fluid in them."

"Sure thing, doll," he responded, putting on his own gloves and goggles. He walked over with them carefully and placed them in her empty hands.

"Thank you," She said, squatting down so she was eye level with the powder. "Empty the remains of yellow, and one drop of purple."

Howard noticed she had a habit of saying when she mixed chemicals in the lab. Whether it was to remember or just to let others know, he would never know. He watched as she slowly dripped the yellow fluid into the beaker, examining it with intense focus. Once the pipet was drained, she took the purple one and steadily dropped a single drop into the beaker.

She watched as it started bubbling, "That is not good," She muttered backing up and putting a metal bucket over the top along with a large rock over that. "I would stand back." She warned, shooting a nervous smile towards Howard, who did as she said. And not a moment too soon. A loud bang erupted through the lab and the bucket flew up and clattered to the floor, along with the rock, which just cracked the tile.

Cecile readjusted her goggles and gloves before scurrying over to the bucket, which now had a purple gelatinous substance inside. She picked up the bucket and placed it back on the table. She scribbled out a few notes in Latin before pinning them to a corkboard with a pushpin.

Howard watched as she went and tried to pick up the substance, but retracted her hand quickly and hissed in pain."Okay, very hot then," She said, taking the bucket over to a tub full of ice and placing it inside.

"Hey, Cecile, since you have some free time, how 'bout you and I go get a bite at this new res-" Howard didn't get the chance to finish as she scoffed.

"And be mistaken for one of those... promiscuous women you always have on your hip? No thank you, Howard, I would rather die," She said, taking the goggles off her face and placing them on a hook on the wall as well as her lab coat and gloves.

"Ah, come on, Cecile," He said, doing the same as her. "Everyone knows you're just my personal assistant, it won't be that bad."

She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to ever win with this man. She looked towards him with a look of defeat. "Fine, just this once."

A grin spread across his face as she grabbed her pocketbook. "And only because I owe you so much."

"You don't owe me anything, doll. I'd do anything for a dame in distress," He said, his grin growing.

"The whole world knows that one, Howard," She smirked, and he faltered slightly before following her retreating figure out the door.

"That may be true," He held out a finger as if he was announcing a brilliant idea. "But does anyone know that I love you?"

She just scoffed and walked faster towards the exit.

-o-o-

"Steven, is that you?" Cecile questioned, going up to the scrawny man as he walked down the stairs towards the serum injector in the center of the room.

"Cara, you know it's just Steve," He smiled shyly, greeting her with a hug which she returned graciously.

"My apologies, Steve," She said, correcting her mistake. "It is so wonderful to see you again, how is James, er, Bucky, i mean, excuse the slip."

"He went and joined the 107th," He responded, looking slightly downtrodden.

"I am sure he will be fine," Cecile assured, patting his back, he wasn't as fragile as he looked. She knew he could handle anything if he put his mind to it. "Now off you go, up to the table."

"Cara huh?" Howard smirked as you joined him by the control panel.

"It is my middle name, you know that and it is a little easier to say than Cecile," She responded while checking to make sure everything was in order on the panel. She then dug around in her lab coat pockets to pull out some bits of cotton.

"Noise bother you?" Howard asked, looking towards Cecile as she rolled up the cotton, just the slightest of concern flashing through his eyes. She only nodded in response before placing the cotton in her ears as well as equipped her eyes with her goggles. He tapped her shoulder as she wrote down the settings of the dials. She lowered her clipboard and looked towards him, he motioned for her to get behind the panel so, just in case anything short-circuited, she wouldn't get shocked. She obliged and observed her surroundings in silence.

Cecile looked towards Howard as he gave a thumbs up that they were going to begin the procedure soon. She watched Erskine talk to Steve as he undressed, Peggy was there beside him. Cecile debated on going over to the woman to reassure her, but decided against it when Howard went over to say a few things before returning to the panel.

She watched as Steve lied down on the table and got strapped in while Erskine said something to Peggy and she went up to the observation area, albeit, hesitantly. She watched Steve get injected with the serum, and brought up into a standing position in the Vita-chamber, thanks to Howard's mechanical engineering. She cleared her throat and held the clipboard to her chest as the chamber closed around Steve. Cecile watched as the nurses stepped away to a safe distance as well as Erskine who seemed to motion to Howard to start with the Vita rays.

It seemed to be working, from what Cecile could see, until she heard a yell that was muffled by the cotton, but it sure sounded painful. Erskine went towards the chamber like he wanted it open, and Cecile even saw Peggy come out of the room in a panic. But everyone seemed to back away as the light grew brighter and everything started to short circuit in a mess of sparks. Cecile looked away for a moment because the light got too bright, and looked back right as the chamber was opening up.

Cecile removed the cotton from her ears and pushed the goggles up to rest on her head. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, it was Steve, but much taller, stronger, and, dare she admit, more handsome. She knew that a small dose of the Vita rays could increase abilities, but this was on a whole different scale.

She quickly looked towards Howard as he helped Steve out of the chamber, a smile plastered on her face as she went to him after he was sure Steve was fine. He picked her up and spun her around, laughing. He then quickly put her down and placed his hands on her shoulders. "We did it, Cecile," He said, smiling proudly.

"Yes we did, Howard," She smiled back. Just as she was about to ask if he wanted to join her for drinks after, an explosion erupted from the observation area, causing Howard to pull her down with him to get cover. Cecile watched as a man took the serum and booked it, shooting Erskine on his way out.

Peggy recovered the fastest and started shooting the man, successfully clipping him in the arm. Cecile heard more gunshots as Peggy ran towards the stairs and hurried up them to go after the man. Steve soon joined her after checking Erskine.

It took a moment for Cecile to register what was going on before she stood next to Howard, who seemed a little shocked himself. She stumbled over to the now dead Erskine, her ears ringing from the sound of the gunshot, and knelt next to him, getting her knees and lab coat bloody. "Auf Wiedersehen Mein Lieber Freund*," She muttered, grabbing his hand and giving it a pat before standing and stumbling quickly up the stairs to go check on Peggy.

* "Goodbye my dear friend."


	2. Save It

"Hey, Howard?" Cecile queried from behind him, holding a clipboard to her chest and observing the HYDRA submarine in front of her.

"Yes, Doll?" he responded, stopping what he was doing immediately when he noticed her slightly nervous behavior.

"I was going to ask-" However before Cecile got to finish she heard Phillips approaching and motioned for Howard to get back to work. He mouthed 'ask me after' before the Colonel stopped in front of the machine.

"What do we got here," He asked, rather loudly. Howard leaned against the sub.

"Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country; but I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this technology," Howard responded, looking back and forth between an opened area of the sub that exposed wires and the men questioning him.

"Who is?" Another man Cecile recognized, but couldn't place, asked.

"HYDRA," Phillips answered. "I'm sure you've been reading our briefings."

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel," The man stated, looking slightly upset.

"HYDRA is the Nazi deep science division, it's led by Johann Schmidt, but he has much bigger ambitions," Peggy stated, approaching the men from the stairs. Cecile covered her mouth slightly with her hand to cover her smile at the awkwardness the man showed.

"HYDRA is practically a cult, they worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible," Phillips added.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" the man asked.

"Spoke to the president this morning," Phillips started while walking away towards Peggy. "As of today, the SSR is being retasked."

"Colonel?" Peggy questioned.

"We are taking the fight to HYDRA, pack your bags, Agent Carter, you too Stark and Keane, we're flying to London tonight," Phillips stated, turning to walk out of the room.

"Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in," Steve announced.

"Cecile, what did you want to ask?" Howard asked quietly, she blinked and shook her head before joining him on the lower level, still slightly distracted by the conversation that had just commenced.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to go for drinks, but it seems as though the Colonel has other plans," She whispered, a shy smile spreading across her ruby red lips.

Howard smirked and placed his hand on the small of her back pushing her towards the ledge to climb up. "Well, as soon as the chance arises, we can get ourselves a couple'a drinks, how 'bout that, dollface?" He asked. She held her hand out and helped him climb up as well.

"I think that sounds quite nice, Mr. Stark," She smiled while walking away towards the exit with Howard following close behind.

-o-o-

"H-Howard, it is not fair that I am the only one getting drunk," Cecile whined, poking him in the shoulder as they sat in a secluded area of a bar. Her voice was slurred and it was getting harder to understand her with her accent becoming thicker. He grinned and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Dollface, I'm drunk enough to know that no other woman in this place could be as brilliant as you," he said with a smile on his face as he pulled her out of the booth and towards the exit of the bar.

"You are just saying that, Howard," She laughed, swatting at his arm with a large smile on her face. He shook his head and pulled her closer to him and held onto her waist as they walked towards the small hotel they were staying at for the night in London. They would move into a more, permanent, residence in the morning.

"I mean every word," He announced, watching as she rolled her eyes.

"Is that what you tell every girl, Howard?" She questioned, grinning at him as they approached the hotel. He opened the door and escorted her to her room.

"Only the special ones," he winked as they stood outside her door as she opened it with the key. She opened the door and leaned against the door frame.

"And exactly how many special ones were there?" She questioned, a little more sensually than she intended.

"Only you," he whispered, leaning closer towards her face. She leaned in closer as well and placed a hand on his chest.

"I don't believe you," She whispered back with slightly lidded eyes. Alcohol lingered on her breath as it rolled across his face.

"Why don't I show you then," He grinned, as she moved her hand towards his tie to tug him into the room.

She shut the door and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Howard, i-i have to say someth-" she started, but she was cut off by Howard placing his lips upon hers, effectively shutting her up.

"Save the confessions for after the war, Cecile. For now, just enjoy the moment," Howard said, leading her towards the bed that was illuminated by the moon shining through the cracks in the blinds.

Her back hit the bed as Howard crawled over her. Blond curled hair fell around her face like a halo and ocean blue eyes sparkled with wonder and excitement as to what the great Howard Stark had in for her. And, it was, by far, one of the better nights she had spent with a man. It also might have been because she actually cared for him. But that was a different story for a different moment.

After the deed was done, both were panting, clothes were strewn about the room, and Howard was rolling off Cecile to lie beside her. "Wow," Cecile muttered, rolling onto her side to face Howard, who seemed to have somewhat of the same reaction as her.

"You better not leave me like you do with those other women, Howard," She said teasingly, scooting closer to the man as he moved his arm to allow her to get closer.

"Wouldn't dream of it, doll." He stated, looking down at her. "Besides, I know you could easily kick my ass into next week. Unlike most women, who would just prefer to give me a slap to the face."

"Which in most cases you rightly deserve," Cecile giggled as she saw the mock hurt on his face.

"I never deserve them," He said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Howard?" Cecile asked, her face getting a little serious as she sat up slightly so she could run her fingers through his already messy hair.

"Yeah, Cecile?" He responded, now looking at her.

"If you ever have a son, you should name him Anthony," She said, looking towards the window. She licked her lips before continuing. "I know it is your middle name, but, I think it would be a good name."

He laughed and patted her side. "What brought this up?"

"I'm not entirely sure," She said, looking back at him now. "I just…"

She hesitated, not really knowing why she said what she did in the first place. She was pretty certain Howard wouldn't remember, and she was also sure that their relationship probably wouldn't get to the point of marriage. However, she liked to entertain the idea that maybe it would. But for now, she could only smile and shake her head and come up with a silly reason. "I just thought that it would be cute, like passing on a tradition of sorts."

He yawned and smiled, "I'll keep it in mind, Cecile."

She nodded and watched as he fell asleep, a small smile graced her features as she lied back down beside him. She placed her lips on his cheek before snuggling into his chest. "Goodnight, Howard."

-o-o-

"Peggy, you cannot be serious?" Cecile asked, almost shocked by the woman's request. "Austria, A HYDRA base, piloting?"

"Please, Cecile, you have to understand, it's for Steve," Peggy pleaded, causing the slightly older blond woman to sigh in defeat.

"Fine, but I better get an explanation when we return. Follow me," Cecile said to Peggy who motioned for Steve to come over and follow. Cecile lead the duo towards Howard, who was inspecting one of his planes in the hangar.

"Mr. Stark, Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers are here to ask a favor of you," Cecile said as they approached.

Peggy explained the predicament to Howard who listened carefully. After a moment he agreed and explained that he was actually prepping his plane for a flight anyways. Cecile rolled her eyes and got into the plane in the co-pilot spot to check that the plane was ready for takeoff. The rest of them soon joined and Howard took the spot beside Cecile in the pilot's seat after shutting the door of the plane.

"This is ridiculous you know," Cecile voiced quietly, flipping some switches on her side. "We could get shot down. I don't know if you considered this, but I'm certain that HYDRA has anti-aircraft guns. And I'm not going to even mention the fact-"

"Cecile," Howard cut her off. "We'll be fine."

"Whatever you say," Cecile muttered as Howard started to taxi the plane out of the hangar. Soon enough they were in the air and headed off to Austria in near darkness.

"The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind. " Peggy said after the plane had been going for a while. She was pointing at a map as she instructed Steve as to where he was headed.

"We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep," Howard said, leaning slightly to the right so that they could hear him over the engine of the plane.

"Just get me as close as you can," Steve responded to Howard then shifted his attention back to Peggy. "You know you three are gonna be in a lot of trouble when you land."

"And you won't?" Peggy retorted.

"Where I'm going, if anybody yells at me I can just shoot 'em," Steve said back.

"They will undoubtedly shoot back," Peggy stated.

"Well let's hope it's good for somethin'," Steve said, hitting his hand against his shield.

"They need to kiss already," Cecile muttered from the front so only Howard could hear, which he smirked at.

"Agent Carter," Howard spoke up from the front, "If we're not in too much of a hurry, I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for some late-night fondue."

Peggy didn't respond and seemed disinterested as she looked back at Steve. "Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace. We're lucky to have him," Peggy finally said as Steve put his gloves on.

"So are you two… Do you…" Steve said awkwardly, gesturing. Peggy looked between the cockpit and Steve, silently telling him to just spit it out. "...fondue?"

Peggy just shook her head and handed him a device. "This is your transponder. Activate it when you're ready and a signal will lead us straight to you."

"Are you sure this thing works?" Steve asked Howard who was flipping some switches above his head.

"It's been tested more than you, pal," Howard responded, leaning back again so they could hear him. Right as he finished the plane started to get shot at.

"I told you, Howard!" Cecile exclaimed, flipping switches to keep the plane stabilized.

"Get back here! We're taking you all the way in!" Peggy shouted as Steve opened the hatch on the plane.

"As soon as I'm clear, you turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!" Steve shouted back, getting ready to jump.

"You can't give me orders!" Peggy exclaimed, looking seemingly upset.

"The hell I can't! I'm a Captain!" Steve shouted, putting his goggles on and jumping out of the plane. Peggy leaned closer to the door while holding on to the top of the door to watch Steve fall and deploy his parachute. After Peggy was sure he was, somewhat, safe, she shut the door and Howard steered the plane away from the gunfire.

"Howard, I swear to god, if we get shot down because of you…" Cecile said angrily, still helping to stabilize the plane.

"I know what I'm doin', dollface," Howard stated, giving her a smirk as they flew away from the gunfire which stopped after they got a decent ways away.

It was quiet for a moment before Howard spoke up. "So… that's a no on the fondue?"

"Howard, for god's sake!" Cecile exclaimed, exasperated.


	3. What have we done?

"Emission signature is unusual," Howard stated as Cecile wrote down what he said. He was currently taking out, what both of them though, was the power source for the HYDRA weapon Steve brought back. He was using one of his machines to control the claw behind the glass. "Alpha and beta ray neutral. Though I doubt Rogers picked up on that."

One of the other scientists leaned over to observe the little glowing blue orb that Howard was taking out. Both of them gave a small smirk to the Rogers comment before the other scientist wrote something down.

"Fascinating," Cecile whispered, as she continued writing.

"Seems harmless enough," Howard said quietly, staring at the orb. "Hard to see what all the fuss is about."

He moved the other part of his machine closer so he could extract a sample, and just about as he was about to take it, the orb sparked. Cecile opened her eyes wide and ducked, covering herself with her clipboard, right as the orb exploded, sending Howard and the other scientist flying backward in a shower of glass and smoke.

"Write that down," Howard muttered, sitting up as another scientist and Cecile rushed to his side.

"Howard are you alright!" Cecile exclaimed, helping him sit up and quickly checking over his body to see if there was any major damage.

"I'm alright," He said, motioning the scientist who rushed over to check on the other one.

"You might have a concussion, internal bleeding, or-" Howard cut off her fussing by placing a finger on her lips.

"Just a couple scrapes, and most likely some bruising," Howard said, using Cecile as a crutch as she walked him to a chair. She left for a moment to retrieve a first-aid kit and sat it down on the table beside Howard and his chair.

She helped him take off his lab coat so she could inspect how badly his injuries were. They weren't bad at all and Cecile sighed in relief, before grabbing some antiseptic and pouring a bit onto some gauze and dabbing the cuts on his face, which he flinched at.

"Oh, hold still, do not be a baby," Cecile muttered, leaning in closer and rolling her eyes.

"It hurts," Howard stated, flinching as she moved to the other cut.

"It's a cut, Howard, of course it does, especially since I'm cleaning it," She deadpanned, leaning back and pulling out a tin of band-aids. She took on a more teasing tone with her next question. "Does Howie need a band-aid?"

"Really, Cecile?" Howard asked, looking slightly annoyed. She only giggled.

"Don't you have to meet Steve to show him his new equipment?" Cecile asked, helping the man up and hanging his lab coat on a rack.

"Oh right," he said, heading out of the room to meet Steve. Cecile followed after she hung up her lab coat. Right as the two of them were going to enter the room, she saw Peggy who seemed just a tad bit upset.

" , I'm going to talk to Peggy really quickly," Cecile stated. "I'm sure you won't get into too much trouble while I'm gone."

He just grinned and shook his head. "I can't make any promises, dollface."

Cecile walked over to Peggy, her heels clicked and gray skirt swooshed slightly as she made her way over. She let out a small cough as to alert Peggy of her appearance. The woman looked up and seemed like she was about to explode.

"I cannot believe that man," Peggy stated, exasperated and frustrated. She was pacing now. "He honestly knows nothing about women, Cecile, not a damned thing."

"What did Steve do?" Cecile asked.

"Kissed that blond floozy by the entrance." She sighed, stopping in front of Cecile. "I know he probably didn't mean it, but that doesn't mean I can't be mad. He should know better."

"I agree, Peggy," Cecile said as they walked towards the door to the lab. "If Ho-um, anyone I was seeing did that, I would be mad too. Even if they were like Steve." She coughed lightly trying to steer Peggy away from her mistake. "I've known Steve since we were children though, he would never do anything like that on purpose."

Peggy nodded before giving her a slightly knowing look to which Cecile avoided by looking away and scurrying off to Howard's side when they entered the lab.

"You quite finished, Mr. Stark?" Peggy queried, walking over to the gun table. "I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business."

"What do you think?" Steve asked, holding the shield up with a smile on his face completely oblivious to Peggy's anger. Cecile raised her eyebrows and nudged Howard, giving him a 'better watch out' look before watching Peggy pick up a gun and shot at his shield. Cecile was unfazed, however, Howard, on the other hand, was cowering slightly behind the desk blocking his face. Steve looked up from over the top of his shield, and Howard stood slightly, still on guard.

"Yes, I think it works," She stated, with some bitterness in her tone. She put the gun down and exited the room with a slight saunter to her step.

Howard came around the front of the desk to join Steve. "I had some ideas about the uniform," Steve said, holding out a paper with a design on it.

"Whatever you want, pal," Howard said, seemingly a little shocked by Peggy. Steve left after putting the shield back and Cecile went around to look at the design.

"That is quite nice," She said, taking the paper and attaching it to her clipboard. He only nodded and turned towards her. "I gave you a warning look."

"I didn't think she would shoot him though," Howard stated, blinking away the shock.

"Considering she was pretty mad, I kind of expected it," She said with a grin. She then whispered in his ear: "Just remember I'm not afraid to shoot you either, Howard."

"Got it," he nodded, swallowing hard and looking a little pale as Cecile laughed.

-o-o-

"Cecile," Howard called from the other side of the now empty lab.

"Over here, Howard," She called back, leaning far enough back so he could see her, and he nodded and walked over to her.

"What are you doing, I thought we were going to go for dinner?" He asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Ah, sorry, I lost track of time," She stated but turned to face him, holding up a dark blue, almost skin-tight, suit. "I was busy making this."

He raised a brow, slightly confused, but intrigued at the same time. "What exactly is that going to be used for."

"Combat."

"Who is going to be wearing that exactly, and what is it made of?" He questioned, and noticed her slightly nervous behavior.

"I made it using some of that substance I created while working on the serum; turns out that when the substance cools it turns into an almost bulletproof substance. It also has the texture of a hard rubber."

"You didn't answer the other question," He stated, staring at her as she put down the suit on the table.

"Well, you see, I'll be wearing it," She stated quietly, looking away from him.

"Cecile, no, you can't possibly be considering that," He said, crossing his arms.

"I also need to tell you something else," She said, wringing her hands.

"And what is that, Cecile?"

She hesitated, looking everywhere but him, he nerves getting the better of her, but not regretting what she did.

"I, sort of, injected myself with a weaker form of the serum." She said quickly and held her hands up before Howard could say something. "Under the supervision of Erskine and only at fifty-percent for the Vita rays."

"Cecile, that doesn't make it any better," Howard stated, looking slightly mad. "Something could have happened to you!"

"But nothing did, Howard!" Cecile exclaimed. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you! I just wanted to make sure it was safe, better me than Steve…"

Howard sighed and rubbed his face, frustrated, but glad she was okay. "What exactly did it do to you?"

"Just sharper reflexes and increased agility, plus advanced healing," She bit her lip and avoided his eyes.

"There is something else, isn't there?" He asked, sighing, knowing he may regret the question.

"I, sort of, cannotgetdrunk," She said quickly, making Howard ask her to repeat herself.

She sighed and shifted slightly, wringing her hands again. "I cannot get drunk."

"So, you willingly slept with me?" He asked, and she nodded. She was feeding his ego with this bit of information and she knew he would never let her live it down. The smirk that grew on his face made her sigh and turn away.

"Shut up," She muttered, folding the suit up and locking it in her personal safe under her work table.

"So about that night, we could always have a repeat," He stated, winking at her.

"Not until you have taken me out to dinner, like a gentleman, ," Cecile stated brushing off her light blue button-up blouse.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, dollface," He smiled and she shook her head, following him out of the room.

-o-o-

"So what you are saying is that General McGinnis ordered you to make this gas that keeps the soldiers awake?" Cecile asked, looking towards Howard, who was leaning against the table beside her, and staring at the floor, thinking.

"Yes, and I could use your help," He said, looking towards Cecile.

"Okay, how should we go about it?" She asked, walking over towards a cabinet with hundreds of chemicals stored inside.

"Well, since you're a chemist I thought you would have a better grasp on the concept," He said, following her. She only nodded. "I was thinking of it being canistered and using an oxygen base."

"I can work with creating the chemical, but I cannot canister it," She stated, pulling out some tubes with clear liquid in them. "I also can't do it by myself, you'll have to get others to help as well, try different ideas."

"Of course," He said, watching her move back to her station after she closed the cabinet. "I'll get people working on the canisters, and I'll have you and a group of other scientists work on the gas."

"We have an airtight chamber and rats, right?" Cecile asked, turning towards Howard after she had placed the chemicals in a tube holder.

"We can have them," He said with a smirk, and she rolled her eyes.

-o-o-

Cecile sat at her desk with her head in her hands. She had tried so many things, so many formulas, combinations, animals even. But nothing worked. She kept getting the same results. The same bloody, gruesome results.

She sat up when she heard footsteps approaching her. She wiped away the frustrated tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. The woman already knew it was Howard approaching her, just as tired and frustrated as she was.

The General kept harassing him, asking when it would be done, and Howard had to keep dodging him, with a "We're getting close" or "A few more weeks." Neither Howard nor Cecile wanted the military to get ahold of what they really created.

"I've decided to call it Midnight Oil," Howard stated, pulling up a stool beside the woman and watching the other scientists test various animals and versions of the gas.

"Fitting," Cecile muttered, drained. Howard and her had been up for days trying to get this figured out, yet every time they got somewhere with it, it just went downhill as soon as they tested it. Everyone in the lab stopped as soon as they noticed roughly ten Military Police come into the room. Both Howard and Cecile stood and walked towards the MP that seemed to be in charge as the others went around the room, taking the formulas and everything having to do with the gas.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Cecile questioned harshly, pointing to the men confiscating everything.

"We're here under orders to take everything related to the gas," The man stated.

"Whose orders?" Howard asked, growing slightly angry.

"General McGinnis," The man responded.

"The product isn't even ready for use yet," Cecile said, her voice rising. "The animals we tested it on just killed each other!"

The man motioned for the other MP to take the crates and folders out of the room. "Ma'am, we are under orders, nothing can be done."

Cecile clenched her fists as they shook. She could feel her fingernails dig into the palm of her hand, and she took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm herself down. "Tell the General he is making a huge mistake!" She yelled after the men as they exited the room.

Howard seemed just as agitated but knew there was nothing he could do about the upcoming events that would happen the day after.

The two of them got off one of Howard's planes in Finow. Cecile looked incredibly nervous and Howard was on edge. They knew that what they were about to witness was their doing.

Blood.

Bodies.

Death.

Cecile wanted to vomit at the sight before her. Sure she had seen people die before, some at her own hand. But this. This was way too much. She covered her mouth with her hand and rushed off to find something to vomit behind.

After a few minutes of dry heaving, she stared at the contents of her stomach from the last few days in a pile in the snow. Shaking, she leaned against the nearest tree and started breathing heavily. "T-That… w-we…" She whispered. Tears pricked her eyes and she furiously started to wipe them away.

After a while longer she went back aboard the plane to find Howard sitting in one of the back seats, looking extremely pale and upset. She swallowed and closed the hatch on the plane, to keep it warm inside. "I had people take back the remains of the gas," He muttered, watching her as she sat beside him. "We aren't doing anything else for the military."

"I agree," She whispered, grabbing his hand and rubbing his palm. There was a long silence before Howard spoke again.

"We'll be heading back to New York for a couple days, I...I need to build something," He said, standing and heading up to the pilot's seat to get the engine turned on.


	4. Defiance

The plane was silent on the way back from New York. Cecile just stared blankly out the window in the front of the plane, and Howard just busied himself with flying the plane. Cecile hadn't said much since Finow. Howard had tried a couple times to distract her while in New York, but it didn't seem to help much.

"I saw my father, while we were in New York," Cecile said absentmindedly, watching the colorful clouds that were illuminated by the sunset. "He said, that death is part of life and that I just have to accept what I saw. He said, being a scientist sometimes means causing harm to other people."

She didn't expect him to respond, just listen. He didn't really know what to say in the situation either so he just let her talk. She swallowed, allowing herself to continue. "H-He told me that… that… he had three times as much blood on his hands than I did. He looked at his hands after that and got this blank, hollow look in his eyes. Like he regretted those deaths. Every single one."

Cecile got quiet again for a while before speaking up again. "He also mentioned my mother, Madeline. Said that he loved her and wished it turned out differently. I-I have no clue what happened to her, only that her and my brother left when I was very young. My father said that I looked just like her." She laughed a little bitterly. "But, the way he looked at his hands when he said those words, made me realize that it was probably his fault they were gone."

"I'm sharing too much, I'm sorry," She said quietly, noticing Howard's lack of response to her words. "I made it awkward."

Howard chuckled slightly. "It's nice hearing about you for once, Cecile."

She nodded, and the flight went back to silence. But, the tension in the air before seemed to dissipate.

"Howard?" She asked, looking towards him.

"Yeah, doll?" He responded, looking over at her for a moment before going back to flying.

"I'm sorry," She said quietly. This confused Howard.

"Why?"

"Spilling my problems to you."

He laughed and it was her turn to be confused.

"What?"

"Cecile, if we weren't in a position where you could tell me things, you wouldn't be on this plane now. I trust you, and you trust me."

"You trust me?"

"Sure do."

"But I haven't exactly shown you that you can."

"You've shown it to me plenty over the years."

"Like when?"

He thought for a moment. "Like when we first met, you showed me that I could trust you."

She laughed, "When you caught me burning a bible in an alleyway?"

"No, no, and I think that was Steve," He responded, chuckling at her. "It was when you got your father to get rid of some thieves stealing fruit from my father."

"Oh, while we were in primary school?" She questioned, knowing that she went back and forth between America and France during that time.

"You knew you could trust me just by that?"

"You didn't have to help at all," He started. "You were in a slightly upper-class family, even during the depression, and the fact that you bothered to help at all, just made me trust you."

"I doubt that, Howard," Cecile stated, leaning closer to him in her chair. "You just liked me because I took you to movies."

"Well, maybe that too," He smirked. "But, out of anyone in the world, I would choose to trust you with my life."

"I am glad you hold me to such a high esteem, Mr. Stark," She grinned, feeling a lot better.

-o-o-

Cecile blinked away the sleep as she buttoned up Howard's shirt that she took off the floor so she could answer the door. She looked at her wristwatch. "Who in the hell knocks at 3:30 in the morning?" She questioned and pulled the door open a crack. "Steve?"

"C-Cara, can we talk?" He asked, clenching, and unclenching his fists. He looked upset, his eyes were bloodshot, and Cecile nodded.

"Of course, sweetie," She looked back inside for a moment. "Let me get changed really quickly."

He slowly nodded and she left the door open a crack so she could have some light to get a skirt on and grab her shoes without waking the sleeping Howard on the bed. She tucked in the shirt as much as she could, considering it was twice as big as her, and carried her shoes to the door. But not before leaving a quickly scrawled out message on a slip of paper for Howard on the bedside table.

She closed the door quietly and slipped on her shoes. They walked in silence until they reached a bar that was in shambles due to the bombing in London. Cecile recognized the bar as the one everyone went to before Steve and his team went on the missions. She remembered singing there, late into the night, until everyone had left.

Cecile brushed off a chair and sat Steve down in it. "I'll get you a drink, how about that?" She stated, already knowing it really wouldn't do anything for him. He only nodded.

She fished around behind the bar until she found a green-tinted bottle. She found a decently clean cup and cleaned it off with the sleeve of her shirt. She then found a bar stool and brushed it off before scooting it over to the table and setting the glass down. She poured the alcohol in until the cup was full and took a big swig, wincing at the burning sensation, before handing it off to Steve who did the same thing.

"Buck…" Steve tried to say, looking away from Cecile. She didn't know him as well as Steve, but she was still his friend. "He… it's my fault."

"Steven," She whispered, taking his hand and rubbing his palm. "It is okay, I'm certain it was not your fault."

"He… he's dead, Cecile, and it's my fault," Steve said, his voice strangled and rough. This stunned Cecile, and she blinked, staring at Steve's face. She could see the tears forming in his eyes and hopped off the bar-stool. She swallowed and hugged him, burying her face into his uniform-clad chest.

"I...I…" She tried to get out but found herself unable to find any words. She had no idea what to say or do, so she just hugged him harder and he, eventually, hugged her back. "Steve, i... it is not your fault."

He didn't respond and she knew he was probably crying. She pulled back and chewed on her lip, trying not to cry as well. "James wouldn't want you to cry, Steven," She whispered, rubbing her thumb against his cheek. "I am going to fetch, Peggy, she… she always knows what to say."

"Okay," Steve choked out, taking another swig of the drink. Cecile sniffed and put the bar-stool back before going to where Peggy was staying and letting her know about Steve. Peggy thanked her before heading off to where Steve was still seated at the bar.

Cecile trudged back to the worn out apartment Howard and she managed to find in London. She opened the door and took off her heels before going to the small kitchen and pulling out some of the cheap liquor she kept just so she had something to drink. She leaned back in the chair and took a swig. She sighed and took another, then another, until the bottle was gone and she was slouched forward on the table, still as upset as before. That fact wasn't going to change. The only thing that would, is if she joined Steve and the Howling Commandos.

The light from the sun was shining through the window and Cecile sighed. "Might as well just get ready."

-o-o-

"Johann Schmidt belongs in a bughouse. He thinks he's a god, and he's willing to blow up half the world to prove it, starting with the USA," Colonel Phillips stated, facing a world map before turning towards the table full of people. Cecile was seated to Steve's right at the corner of the table and Howard sat beside her.

"Schmidt's working with powers beyond our capabilities. He gets across the Atlantic, he'll wipe out the entire Eastern Seaboard in an hour." Howard stated, leaning against the table.

"How much time we got?" Gabe Jones asked, looking towards Phillips.

"According to my new best friend, under twenty-four hours," Phillips responded, looking at some reports in his hands.

"Where is he now?" One of the commandos asked.

"HYDRA's last base is here," Phillips responded, pointing to a photograph. "In the Alps, 500 feet below the surface."

Phillips then threw the pictures in front of Jim Mortia. "So what are we supposed to do? I mean, it's not like we can just knock on the front door." Jim stated, looking towards everyone else at the table.

"Why not?" Steve asked. Everyone was staring at him at this point. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."

"That is crazy," Cecile muttered. "But it might just work."

Everyone agreed and Steve explained his plan. Afterward, Phillips dismissed everyone to get ready quickly. Cecile held Steve back until everyone was off doing other things.

"I'm going with you," She stated firmly, her jaw set and her brows crinkled into a determined frown.

"Cecile, no, you barely have any training," Steve retorted, causing her to sigh and drag him to the side.

"No one but Phillips and Howard know this, but I am an SSR agent like Peggy," She whispered, trying to explain everything as quickly as possible so he wouldn't catch on to the lie. "I've been keeping tabs on Howard, you know how he is. And, since I am also a scientist, I was tasked to help Erskine, who also tested a weaker version of the serum on me."

"He what?" Steve whisperer shouted, and she shushed him and looked around.

"I am just as good an agent as Peggy," Cecile stated. "If not better."

Steve sighed and rubbed his face, trying to take in the information. "I want to get them back, Steve. For what they did."

"Does Howard know what you're planning?" Steve asked, crossing his arms and looking down at her.

"Not yet," She responded, licking her lips. He thought about it for a few minutes, trying to fit where she would be best put.

"You can drive a motorcycle can't you?" Steve asked, causing Cecile to smirk.

"Of course I can."

-o-o-

Cecile drove behind Steve, the wind hitting against her face and keeping stray hairs out of her face. She saw a group of HYDRA soldiers fall into line behind Steve and she grinned, pulling out a pistol and shooting the tire of one of the motorcycles in the back, causing the man to spin out and crash the bike.

A flicker of light from Steve's motorcycle mirror caught her attention and she swerved into the forested area away from the group. Cecile kept the Captain in the corner of her eye as he successfully got rid of the men using various tactics programmed into his bike. Cecile slowed when she saw the tank and waited for Steve to blow it up before going in behind him and jumping the wall with the motorcycle.

Jumping off the bike as it slid to a stop, she avoided the fire from the HYDRA soldiers and joined Steve as his motorcycle exploded by the door. She pulled out an electric baton that Howard had developed, amongst other things, and lit it to life using a button on the side.

Cecile slid under one of the men and jabbed the baton into his side and hit the button, causing a large pulse of electricity to go through the man's body. She didn't bother to linger, and went onto the next man, kicking him in the gut and sending him into another. She then jumped up and kicked another man in the head and quickly ducked as soon as she landed because Steve's shield flew over her head. After standing back up quickly she joined his side just as two men with flamethrowers approached the duo, trapping them inside a diamond of fire.

"Eh bien, merde*," Cecile muttered in French, standing back to back with Steve. As soon as the fire stopped a swarm of men surrounded the duo and Cecile retracted her baton with a sigh.

* "Well, shit."


	5. Regret

Steve and Cecile were escorted into, what Cecile assumed was, Schmidt's office. The men escorting her put her hand-cuffs on a little tighter than what she would have liked, making it harder for her to try to slip out of them. "Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait, but you do it better than anyone," Schmidt stated, walking out of the darkness and in front of Cecile and Steve. The men pushed Cecile towards Schmidt and she stumbled slightly, glaring at the men. She couldn't do too much, unlike Steve, and those men knew it well.

"But there are limits," Schmidt continued, watching Cecile out of the corner of his eye. "To what even you can do, Captain. Or did Erskine tell you otherwise?"

"He told me you were insane," Steve stated calmly.

"Ah," Schmidt said, looking towards the ground. "He resented my genius and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine. But he gave you everything. So, what made you so special?"

"Nothin," Steve responded with a small smirk on his face. "I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

Schmidt punched Steve in the face causing Cecile to gasp and try to defend him only to get held back by the men that escorted her. He then backhanded Steve and punched him in the gut, causing him to double over.

"I can do this all day," Steve taunted, looking up at Schmidt with a cut on his lip.

"Of course you can, of course. But, unfortunately, I am on a tight schedule." Schmidt retorted, pulling out a pistol.

"No!" Cecile yelled just as they heard something shoot into the rocks from outside the windows.

"So am I," Steve growled, pulling one of the soldiers in front of him to block Schmidt's shot. The commandos crashed through the glass, causing Schmidt to grab Cecile by the hair and drag her out of the room with him.

"Lass mich los, du Hurensohn!" She hissed in German, trying to get him to let loose, only to have him hold on tighter. Schmidt stopped when he saw an explosion down the hall and elbowed Cecile in the face, effectively breaking her nose. She doubled over in pain as blood gushed from her nose, giving Schmidt enough time to pick up a tesseract rifle and drag her along with him down the opposite end of the junction.

Schmidt ran down the hall away from Steve, dragging Cecile behind him, knowing that the Captain wouldn't throw his shield if she was in the way. Schmidt pushed her through a pair of sliding doors right as Steve's shield got stuck in it. They kept running, or Schmidt ran and dragged Cecile until they got to a hangar with a huge plane inside.

Cecile was pushed against the ladder and prodded with the rifle to get her to move quicker. She growled and climbed up as fast as she could with her still cuffed hands in front of her. Schmidt pushed her to the side, causing her to smack her head on one of the low hanging bars, hard. He pushed the tesseract into its holder and sealed it shut before dragging Cecile over and handcuffing her leg to the bottom of the stairs that led up to the pilot's seat. She held her head and groaned, feeling a bump start to form and swell. She felt the engine of the plane start up and the plane start to move as they started accelerating faster towards the exit.

She let out a string of curses in French trying to get the cuffs loose. "You're making a huge mistake!" Cecile yelled out, causing Schmidt to chuckle, but not respond. Cecile turned when she heard a crash from the other side of the door. She then turned back to Schmidt who put a gag in her mouth before hiding behind a pillar.

Steve walked in hesitantly a few moments later, and Cecile shook her head at him when he came over to pull the gag off. "Behin-" Was all Cecile could get out before she moved his head with her free leg to avoid the rifle fire, which hit the front of the plane and broke the glass.

"You don't give up, do you?" Schmidt asked, holding the rifle up.

"Nope," Steve responded, rushing towards Schmidt and blocking the rifle shots. While the two men were fighting Cecile tried desperately to reach the pouch of chemicals at her hip. She undid the clasp and reached for the glowing green tube and pulled it out.

Her hands were shaking slightly as she tried to pry the cork out of the tube. If she got this anywhere near her skin, she was a goner. Right as she was about to pull it out she saw Schmidt flying towards her and she ducked, trying to keep the tube steady as the plane started to take a nose-dive because he hit the control panel.

A sense of weightlessness took over as Cecile started to fly upward, she was slightly thankful at that moment, for the handcuff attached to her leg. She moved towards the railing and wrapped her free leg around it just as Schmidt flew over her and steadied the plane, causing her to drop and hit her back against the floor taking the air out of her lungs.

Slightly breathless she sat up and noticed the vile slipped from her grasp and was slowly rolling away from her. She lunged forward and was just millimeters away. The smooth glass was right against her fingertips. "Just a little…" She muttered, right as she heard Schmidt walk down the steps and his pistol power up.

"You could have the power of the gods!" Schmidt exclaimed over the roar of the wind and fired at Steve. Cecile still tried to grab the tube while Schmidt was distracted. "Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations! I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!"

"Not my future!" Steve yelled back, still avoiding the blasts from the pistol. Right after he yelled that the plane jerked just enough for the vile to roll into her hand and for her to pretend to curl up in pain far enough so she could pour the contents of the tube onto the chain of the cuffs on her leg. She yanked her leg away from the pole just as Schmidt went crashing into the tesseract consol.

Cecile gasped and scooted away from Schmidt who seemed very angry. "What have you done?" He growled, staggering and grabbing the tesseract. "No!"

The cube started to glow in his hand as he stared into it. It started to shoot out sparks of blue onto the ceiling of the plane and it seemed like the entire galaxy was showing itself. Cecile looked back at Schmidt who seemed to slightly panic as the cube started to eat away at his body. He started yelling as a bright light flashed and seemed to shoot into the galaxy above. Before dissipating and causing the cube to start falling as his body was completely gone.

Cecile jumped up and grabbed the cube right as it was about to fall onto the metal grate of the plane, but dropped it as it seared her skin. She hissed in pain and watched it eat through the metal of the plane and drop far below them. It seemed to whisper to her in a language she couldn't recognize before she could feel spikes of pain seem to seep into her very being. "What a shame," She muttered to herself as Steve went to the control panel of the plane and sat down after taking off his helmet. She tried to ignore the pain.

She rushed over to join Steve, hiding her slightly glowing blue palm. "I-Is there anything we can do to stop this?" She asked, trying to realign her nose in the proper spot before it healed that way. She heard it crack again and winced as blood trickled out again. She held her nose and tilted her head back, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Unless you can disarm those bombs in the back, we aren't looking at a lot of options," He responded, looking over the panel.

Cecile swallowed and felt the bleeding stop. She wiped her nose on her torn sleeve and sighed. "Contact the team, say goodbye," She said, placing her hands on his shoulder. "Would… Would you like me to leave?"

"No," He stated simply, getting the coms up. "Stay, you've always been there for me, and I need you again this one last time."

Cecile smiled, albeit wistfully, and nodded "I'll be there for you until the end of the line, Steven."

He seemed slightly taken back by her words. It was something him and Bucky used to say. He pushed it aside though as he contacted the rest of the group. "Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?" He asked into the com system.

Cecile heard Jim then Peggy but was too focused on the clouds in front of her. Her hands were shaking as she gripped onto the chair the Captain was sitting in. She could feel the familiar sting of tears and the trembling of her bottom lip as she saw the plane angle downward.

This was it. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see the ground as they hit. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to die today. At this moment. She wasn't sure if she was ready for those images of her life flashing before her eyes. Every second of her life. Every moment. Happy and sad.

She let out a choked sob and remembered her last moment with Howard. Something she would regret for the rest of her short life.

_"Cecile you can't be serious?" He asked, stunned by her forwardness about the upcoming mission._

_"I'll be with Steven, Howard, I'll be fine, I'm not a child, I can handle myself," She said, frowning and clenching her fists. He started pacing and rubbing the bridge of his nose._

_"The last time a firefight happened you froze up," He stated._

_"I wasn't exactly equipped for the situation, I didn't expect a fucking bomb to go off," She growled, her voice increasing in volume and her body becoming rigid. He seemed to get more angry with her words._

_"What about Finow, you couldn't exactly handle yourself there either!"_

_"Like you handled it any better!"_

_"I wasn't the one who created the gas that killed those people!"_

_"Well, at least I'm not the one with my name on it!"_

_They were both yelling now._

_"You're impossible, you know that?!" He shouted. "It's like you want to get yourself killed! Is it the guilt, Cecile? Because going on a suicide mission isn't going to solve your problems!"_

_"The impossible one is you, Howard!" She yelled back, pointing her finger at him. "You're acting like a fucking child!"_

_"I'm not the one trying to get killed!" He exclaimed, slamming his hand on the metal table, startling her._

_They both stared at each other for a moment before she spoke up. "Go fuck yourself, Howard. Or maybe that blond secretary can help you." She then quickly left the room after throwing a diamond ring at him, all the while ignoring Howard as he called after her. She then went to that very same secretary and asked her to give a sealed envelope to Howard when she left._

The last thing she heard was glass shattering around her, and then blackness.


	6. Turning Point

Cecile rolled over onto her side. The first thing that entered her mind was the word 'soft'. She was on something soft. The next word was 'wrong'. Her eyes popped open and she sat up quickly, in, what now she realized, was a bed.

She looked around the room, it was plain, something you'd find in a hospital. She looked towards the open window that let in a light breeze, it blew her hair slightly and she smiled. "I-I'm alive," she whispered, standing up and going towards the window to look outside.

New York, she was in New York. But the cityscape was off, it looked almost fake. She opened the window more to take a closer look. "What the…" She trailed off, realizing that there was a just a backdrop and a floor just below the window.

She looked around the room again to check for anything she could use as a weapon. She settled for the leg of the wooden side table by the bed. She then looked around outside the window before climbing out.

Carefully and quietly, she looked around the side of the room and noticed two men standing at the door with heavy black suits and guns that looked way more futuristic than she was used to. She opted not to go that way and instead took off her shoes and sprinted to the metallic door on the other side of the room. The amount of time it took for her to run surprised her, it was less than usual.

Clearing the thought from her mind she opened the door and slipped out of the room. She noticed people walking past, and they paid her no mind, seemingly busy with their own issues. She put her shoes on again and held the leg of the table close to her side as she walked along the wall.

"Where am I?" She questioned out loud, quietly. She rounded a corner and dropped her weapon at the sight before her. She rushed to the large glass window and placed a hand against the cool glass. Her body started to sink to the ground and her hand left a smudge trail on the pristine surface.

"When... H-How," She stuttered out, trying to comprehend the sight before her. It was New York, the Empire State Building told her that much, just not the New York she remembered.

"When is 2011, Miss. Keane," a man stated from behind Cecile causing her to turn quickly and press her back against the glass. The man was tall with chocolate colored skin and had an eyepatch on his left eye. He was adorned in almost completely black clothing. "How, we aren't sure yet."

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Cecile asked, more harshly than she intended.

"My name is Nick Fury, director of SHIELD," Fury responded, taking a step towards the woman. "I know who you are because you are in our database listed as MIA, care to explain why that is?"

"You mean, I wasn't listed as dead?" Cecile questioned, a frown creasing her features.

"No," He stated simply. "If you would follow me..."

Fury motioned with his hand to a door down the hallway and moved his jacket aside so Cecile could see his pistol. She knew what that meant, and wasn't about to risk her life again, not before she knew more.

"Okay," Cecile stated quietly, standing and putting her hands up to show she wasn't going to try anything. They both walked down the hallway and Fury opened the door and motioned for her to sit in the chair across from the other two men in the room.

She complied. Fury shut the door with him on the outside. Cecile swallowed and looked towards the two new men. One was in the corner near a large mirror, watching her every move. He had short blond hair and was dressed in dark clothing. She briefly noticed he had some type of device behind his ear and figured it was a sort of futuristic listening device. The man in front of her had a small, almost polite, smile on his face and was dressed in a navy blue dress suit. He was also slightly balding, Cecile noted.

"Hello, Miss. Keane," The suited man stated, holding his hand out. Cecile shook it and nodded.

"Hello," She greeted.

"My name is Agent Coulson, and the man over there," He pointed to the corner man with his thumb without looking at him. "His name is Agent Barton."

"You already know my name, but I am not sure if I am exactly glad to meet you," Cecile responded crisply, sitting up straighter in her chair and folding her hands in her lap.

"We would just like to ask you a few questions," Coulson stated.

"Alright," Cecile stated plainly.

"When we found you, you had handcuffs on your wrists, why is that?" He questioned.

"When Captain Rogers and I infiltrated the HYDRA base, we were captured, and before i could get out of my restraints when the commandos showed up, Johann Schmidt grabbed me and brought me to the plane," Cecile started to explain, calmly, too calmly for her situation. "I only had enough acid to get rid of the restraint on my leg in the plane before the Captain and I crashed."

Coulson nodded. "What was your relationship with Howard Stark?"

Cecile frowned. "I don't see how that is a relevant question."

"It would explain the information, or lack thereof, in the SHIELD database," Coulson said.

"Lack of…" Cecile pondered Coulson's words for a moment. " and I had known each other since we were children. Even with that, he knew very little about me. It was more to protect him than anything else."

"You didn't answer my question, Miss. Keane."

Cecile looked away. "It was a professional relationship, I was a colleague or rather an assistant in his lab."

"We all know that isn't true," Barton spoke up from the corner, crossing his legs and folding his arms over his chest.

Cecile shot him a glare before sighing deeply. "Howard and I had a complicated relationship… It was physical, but also emotional. We had an attachment to each other. We trusted each other with the others life. But… I never got the chance to really express my feelings for him. Truly."

Coulson looked towards Barton who nodded before looking back at Cecile. "Your father, he was after the tesseract."

"How do you know that?" Cecile questioned, her posture growing slightly more rigid.

"It wasn't a known fact until recently when we were going through your files," Coulson stated, pushing some files towards Cecile. She looked at the man before carefully opening them and flipping through the documents and the pictures. "We want to know what your father wanted with it."

"How would I know? I haven't even seen my father in over seventy years, according to that Director Fury man," Cecile snapped. "How do I know that you are not lying to me and are trying to get my father's location from me."

"That is a fair point, Cecile," Coulson stated, nodding. "However, I think it would be useful to know that Howard Stark is actually the one who helped create SHIELD. We aren't your enemy, Cecile, we're an ally."

"Why the fuck should I believe you?" She asked harshly and stood up, her eyes flickering to an icy blue color. Coulson held up a hand to Barton to stand down before he pushed another folder over on the desk. It had the word 'confidential' stamped on the front in large red letters. "What is this?"

"A letter, from Howard Stark," Coulson responded. "No one has read it if that was your next question."

Cecile opened the folder and paperclipped to the folder was an envelope as well as pictures of a small boy and an older looking Howard. Cecile swallowed and turned the picture over. It read 'Anthony and Howard' with a smudged date that Cecile couldn't make out. She placed a hand over her mouth before sitting down again and her eyes faded back into a dark blue.

"My father was looking for an energy source. He heard rumors about it way before Schmidt got ahold of it. He convinced me to quit my secretary job at some company in New York and work for Howard. I already had a huge background in science thanks to my father teaching it all to me, so Howard said that my help couldn't hurt. Plus we were friends, and he knew my strengths were not filing paperwork and getting the lunch order for my superiors. Only then did I figure out why my father did what he did because a few months after Howard was involved in a mission where the Tesseract was found. However, Schmidt got ahold of it first. After that, I only saw my father a handful of times. Once where he said he regretted a lot and that he would be leaving for a while. I never saw him after that." Cecile spilled, staring at the picture.

Coulson seemed a little shocked that she said as much as she did, but nodded. "That should be all for now, Miss. Keane. We'll leave you to gather your thoughts."

Cecile heard the two men leave but continued to stare at the photograph and the envelope in front of her.

In the room behind the glass, Fury was standing there, arms folded, and face void of emotion. Coulson and Barton walked in and watched with Fury as Cecile started to break down. She was currently reading the letter, tears spilling down her cheeks, fists clenching the paper. After she was done, she crumpled up the paper and threw it against the wall before covering her face with her hands and letting out a strangled sob. An old worn out diamond ring now adorning her ring finger.

"This must be hard for her," Coulson stated, turning towards Fury.

"You can say that again," Barton added, still watching the woman.

"You noticed her eyes, right?" Fury asked, looking towards both men.

"Yes, it must be affected by her emotional state, similar to the Hulk, but probably on a smaller scale. We also don't know what exactly happened on the plane either. We will have to ask Captain Rogers for more information on that because she probably is going to be uncooperative about that information." Coulson responded.

"The Tesseract was on the plane, what if she tried to grab it like the red skull did, and it affected her DNA or something?" Barton asked, folding his arms and looking towards the two men.

"That could be a possibility," Fury stated. "We would have to do experiments to be certain."

"You think she would let us?" Barton asked.

"She's a scientist," Coulson stated. "It's in her nature."

-o-o-

Cecile sighed as she walked up to the insanely huge white house after getting out of the taxi. She had debated coming here for weeks, and finally, she decided to come to Malibu, California, to this specific house, that belonged to a certain son of a Stark.

She was now standing in front of the door of the mansion, and sighed, roughly twenty times, before ringing the doorbell and waiting. A tall blond woman answered the door with a smile on her face.

"You must be Cecile," She said kindly, holding out her hand to shake. "I'm Pepper Potts."

Cecile shook her hand. "That would be correct," she responded, her accent becoming more apparent due to her being insanely nervous.

"You're French?" Pepper asked, closing the door as Cecile walked in, awkwardly.

"Ah, yes, I was born there, but am a citizen of the US due to my father," Cecile responded, following Pepper as she led her down a flight of stairs.

"So, you're here for Tony, right?" She questioned. "You said you knew his father."

"Yeah, I knew him a very long time ago," Cecile answered, biting her lip and trying not to let the feeling of despair consume her, again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Pepper apologized. "I didn't realize-"

Cecile interrupted her. "It's fine, you didn't know."

She nodded and led her into a giant lab, with various cars lined up against a wall and Tony's Iron Man suits lined up against another. Strewn about the entire room were various pieces of mechanical equipment that were far more advanced than anything Cecile had ever seen.

"Wow," Cecile breathed, walking into the lab and admiring the equipment.

"Sir, you have a guest," a disembodied voice said, causing Cecile to look around. Pepper had come over and stood beside Cecile.

"Tony, the woman from SHIELD is here," Pepper stated, before walking back up the stairs and waving.

Cecile watched a taller man, with dark hair walk up to her. He looked distinctly like Howard in certain features, and Cecile had to stop herself from touching him. He also had a shirt with the words "Black Sabbath" on it, and Cecile was curious as to what that meant, though, she ignored the thought for now.

"Hello," Cecile greeted. "You have very impressive technology."

"Thank you," He responded. "You must be Cecile Keane."

"Yes. I knew your father," She stated plainly. "Back during, World War Two."

"He mentioned you a lot," Tony said, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "Said that you were the only woman he ever regretted letting get away."

"Not sure that makes me feel any better," Cecile stated, and laughing just slightly to relieve some of the awkwardness.

"So, why is someone from SHIELD here?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Not really SHIELD, I work for them, in a sense," She responded her eyes shifting away. "But, I'm mostly here to just meet you."

He gave her a puzzled look as she pulled out a folded up, and worn picture from a back pocket in her jeans and handed it to Tony, it was a very old picture of her and Howard at the Stark Expo, he looked at it as she talked. "I've known your father since we were children, and, you're the only link to him I have left."

Tony nodded and got up and handed the picture back. "Scotch?"

"Sure," she responded, taking the glass when he handed it to her.

"I can tell you what I know about him," Tony suggested motioning to another chair that Cecile could pull up. She did so and sat along with Tony. "However, it might not be what you want to hear, he wasn't exactly the best father."

"Alright, even if it is not great, I want to know," She responded with a small smile.

The two of them talked for hours until it was roughly midnight and Tony was showing her the equipment in his lab and neither of them noticed the time until Pepper came down saying she was going to bed.

"Oh, my God," Cecile stated, looking at her watch. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea it was this late."

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "It's okay. Do you have a place to stay?"

"I was just planning to leave after I talked to Anthony," Cecile responded, slightly nervous as she stood in her spot beside Tony.

"Well, now you're going to stay for the night, no ifs, ands, or buts," Tony said, pushing her towards the stairs.

-o-o-

"How was your trip?" Natasha asked, dodging a punch that Cecile threw at her.

"Fine," Cecile responded simply, ducking as Natasha's leg flew over her head.

"Just fine? Nothing at all happened?" Natasha kicked Cecile in the gut knocking her back.

"I talked with him about Howard, and then he showed me some of his equipment, and that was it, nothing special." Cecile held up her hand signaling she was done sparing before wiping some sweat off her forehead.

"So, what was your relationship, between you and Howard, I mean?" Natasha asked, taking a swig from her water bottle. Cecile stopped for a moment from taking the wraps from her hands off.

"We were engaged."

"Woah, Woah, Woah," Natasha stated, going over to Cecile and making the woman face her. "What do you mean engaged?"

"It's exactly what it means, I don't know why you're making such a huge deal out of that."

"Yeah, but you must have really loved him to go that far. Why haven't you told anyone?"

"Not even Peggy knew, and she was my best friend."

"Do you still have the ring?"

"I threw it at him when we got into a fight before I left… but he kept it all those years and put it into a letter for me that was left at SHIELD."

"Oh, I'm sorry, that must be painful."

"It's fine, it's in the past, not like I can go back and change what happened," Cecile said quietly, shrugging Natasha's hand off her shoulder. "I'm going to head back to the apartment, I know you have a mission, I'll see you in a few days."

"Okay," Natasha said, taking her phone out to text Fury about the information while watching Cecile walk out the door.

Cecile sighed while readjusting the bag on her shoulder that held her gym equipment and started to walk down the sidewalk towards her's and Natasha's shared apartment in Hell's Kitchen, a small part of New York City. Fury suggested that Natasha stay with Cecile until she got on her feet and became accustomed to her new life in the 21st century.

She kept walking and not really paying attention to her surroundings until she ran into someone and stumbled slightly before looking up. He was dressed in a fairly nice suit and red sunglasses covering his eyes. She moved her eyes lower and noticed the light tapping from his white cane. He was blind, she felt horrible. "Oh my god, I am so sorry sir, I was not paying attention at all, are you alright?"

He chuckled lightly before waving it off with a smile. "No harm here," He said simply before holding out his hand. She was new to this area, he could tell, not only by her accent but, just a gut feeling he had. "Matthew Murdock."

"Cecile Keane," She said, shaking his hand. He was shocked, to say the least, he had no idea that SHE of all people would be living in Hell's Kitchen, especially considering what Foggy had told him from the newspapers about her. "It is nice to meet you, even though it was not under the best circumstances."

They both laughed lightly. He smiled before speaking smoothly, "The feeling is mutual Miss. Keane, hopefully, we run into each other again."

"Maybe we will," She said back, placing a hand on his arm before retracting. "Have a nice night Mr. Murdock."

"You as well, Miss. Keane," He responded before walking away slowly down the street tapping his white cane. She continued walking, now paying more attention to her surrounding.

Cecile looked up at a street sign and read 10th avenue, and turned right before entering an old five-story brick building. She checked her mailbox before heading upstairs. Most of the mail was for Natasha under a few different names, in which she disclosed to Cecile. She shook her head and unlocked her door on the fifth floor before throwing her bag near the door and placed the mail on the counter in the small kitchen.

She opened a cabinet next to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of rum, unscrewed the cap, which was now lying in a pile on the counter with the other caps from various bottles of liquor, took a long swing before making her way to her bedroom. She opened the door and almost threw the bottle at the person standing inside, had it not been the director of SHIELD.

"Jesus Christ, Fury!" Cecile exclaimed, placing the bottle of rum on her dresser near the door. "At least wait in the living room."

"Sorry about that," Fury stated nonchalantly, placing a worn out picture back on her nightstand. "We need you."

"For what?" Cecile questioned, placing a hand on her hip and glaring at the man.

"The Tesseract, you know more about it than most people, considering your father tried to study it for years and you had direct contact with it which altered your DNA." Fury started, walking towards the much shorter woman to stand in front of her. "We need you to help figure out how to control it."

"For what?" She questioned. He only handed her a manila folder before walking towards the door.

"Think about it."

He disappeared after that, and Cecile just stood there, listening as the front door was opened and shut, and the footsteps faded out as they descended down the staircase. She grabbed her rum before throwing the folder on the bed. She was starting to get really fed up with Fury and his stupid experiments that somehow involved her. It was ridiculous. And now it was for technology that no one really understood at all, let alone that it was highly volatile. She saw what it did to Schmidt, yet she still grabbed it.

It fucked her up. It changed her senses, invaded her mind like a disease, planting its seeds and digging its roots deep into her body. It was almost painful. She could sense everything on a heightened degree like space itself was under her skin. She could feel the blood pulsing through her body, hear it beating in her ears, smell every little change in the atoms of the air around her, taste the smog and dirt in the air. She was sick of it. Sick of this world she was thrown into. They wouldn't even let her see Steve. Making excuses and dismissing her whenever she asked.

Cecile sighed and walked over to the chair in the corner of the room sat beside the dirty window with broken blinds. She sat and leaned back, sipping on her rum and watching smoke plume up from below the building from vents of various sources. Her eyes would occasionally land on the folder on her bed before looking back at the slowly growing nightlife. The best time for crime. She could hear it all over, yet there wasn't much to do about it. Life was life. Crime is crime. Nothing she could ever do would change those facts, nor would anything she did change anything.

She licked her dry lips, realizing the rum in her hand was emptied a long time ago. She gripped the bottle harder in her hand before throwing it against the wall across the room, along with the others that were inevitably sitting along the windowsill. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed inside her chest and she was suffocating. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to the ground, sobbing. She just wanted everything to go back to normal, she wanted to go back in time and stop herself from ever going on that mission. Howard was right. God, he was always right. She just wanted to make everything right, but in the end, she lost everything. Every. God. Damn. Thing. And she had no one but herself to blame. She was stuck here and now she would have to make the best of it.

She slowly stood up after calming herself down and cleaned up the mess she made before walking over to the folder and reading through the miniscule amount of content in the low light the street lights cast through the window.

They needed her and there was no getting around that fact. In the very least, she could stop them from creating something potentially dangerous. She walked to the bathroom and took a quick shower before drying her now long blond hair and curling it. She put on some light make-up apart from the stunningly bright red lipstick and walked into her room and rummaged through her closet for something to wear.

She decided on a navy blue tight dress skirt and a white button up blouse and tied it together with black high heels. She inspected herself in the mirror before grabbing her coat and placing the folder in her go bag and walking out the door to where she would usually meet Fury.


	7. Destructive

Cecile watched from the helicopter as people scurried about the compound, trying to evacuate the building. She was sat beside Fury and Maria Hill as they descended onto the helicopter pad on the roof of the building. All three of them got out, and Agent Coulson was waiting for them, stoic as ever, adorning his usual ensemble of a suit, but with an added accessory of aviators. 

Cecile’s heels clicked on the ground, and her hair whipped around her face due to the force of the wind the blades of the helicopter made, as she joined Fury and Maria who were by Coulson.

“How bad is it?” Fury asked as Coulson took off his glasses. 

“That’s the problem, sir, we don’t know,” Coulson responded. Fury nodded and all of them headed towards the elevator that headed down to where the Tesseract was being held. 

“Doctor Selvig read an energy surge from the tesseract four hours ago,” Coulson explained as they were walking down the industrial looking hallway after exiting the elevator. 

“Nelson didn’t authorize Selvig to go to test phase,” Fury responded. 

“He wasn’t testing it, he wasn’t even in the room,” Coulson retorted. “Spontaneous event.” 

“It just turned itself on?” Maria asked, sounding confused.

“What are the energy levels now?” Fury asked, continuing forward. 

“Climbing, when Selvig couldn’t shut it down, we ordered evac.,” Coulson responded. 

“How long to get everyone out,” Fury asked, looking towards Coulson.

“Campus should be clear in the next half an hour,” Coulson responded. 

“Do better,” Fury stated. Coulson nodded and stopped before turning to get everyone moving faster. 

The remaining three continued down the hallway until they got to a spiraling staircase that led down to where the Tesseract was being held. Cecile could feel goosebumps all over her skin as she got closer to the source. She could practically feel the cube breathing down her neck, and whispering unintelligible words, that she felt she knew, but couldn’t quite grasp. She gripped the railing harder the farther they got down until her knuckles were turning white and she broke out into a cold sweat. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton and her heart was starting to race. 

“Sir, evacuation may be futile.” Maria Hill stated as they climbed further down.

“We should tell them to go back to sleep?” Fury asked, almost sarcastically. 

“If we can’t control the Tesseract’s energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance,” She stated as they got to ground level and off the stairs. Cecile was following behind, more slowly, but still at a fast pace. 

“I need you to make sure the phase two prototypes are shipped out,” Fury ordered.

“Sir, is that really a priority right now? We-” Hill started to ask before Fury cut her off, stopping in front of the entrance to where the Tesseract was being kept.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as it intends to spin on,” Fury stated, and walked up to the top of the incline to the room, leaving Maria and Cecile below. “Clear out the space below, every piece of phase two on a truck and gone.”

“Yes, Sir,” Maria responded, her voice sounding frustrated as she continued past the entrance to go to what she was told. “With me.” She ordered to two soldiers as she continued to walk.

Cecile followed Fury up the steps and into the very spacious room and she looked around in slight awe before shuddering at the sight of the Tesseract. 

“Talk to me, Doctor,” Fury ordered to the older man in a plaid dress shirt and grey slacks. 

“Director,” He stated, going over to Fury. 

“Is there anything we know for certain?” Fury asked.

“The Tesseract is misbehaving,” The British doctor stated.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Fury questioned, as both he and Cecile continued walking with the doctor.

“No, it’s not funny at all,” Selvig stated, looking slightly frazzled. “The Tesseract is not only active, she’s… behaving.”

“I assume you’ve pulled the plug?” Fury asked, and continue walking past the glowing blue cube and further into the lab, with various scientists running tests, a few Cecile recognized from them testing her. 

“She’s an energy source, we turn off the power, she turns it back on,” He stated. “If she reaches peak level-”

“We’re prepared for that, Doctor” Fury interrupted. “Harnessing energy from space.”

“We don’t have the harness,” Salvec responded, going behind a monitor that was monitoring the Tesseract. “My calculations are far from complete. She’s throwing off interference, radiation, nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation.”

“That can be harmful,” Fury stated after looking towards the Tesseract and back at Selvig. Fury turned towards Cecile. “Doctor Selvig, this is Cecile Keane, one would say, an expert on the Tesseract.” 

Selvig held his hand out to the woman, who shook it before looking at the readings on his monitor.

“Where is Agent Barton?” Fury asked Salvig.

“The Hawk?” Salvig sneered. “Up in his nest, as usual.”

Fury walked away and left Cecile with Salvig. “Can you please explain these readings to me? I’m still not used to this level of technology and how to operate it.” Cecile asked, pointing to some of the data popping up on the screen. 

“Right here,” Salvig pointed to random figures flying up the screen. “Is the calculations I've been running to figure out how to stabilize the Tesseract’s energy.”   
He then pointed the readings on the other side of the screen. “Right here is the constant fluctuation of the energy coming from the Tesseract and also how much radiation is being produced and on what scale.” 

“Can you pull up the data from when the Tesseract’s power surged?” Cecile asked, eyes flickering over the data currently on the screen. 

“Sure,” He responded, pulling it up. She quickly read over it and pulled up a comparison of the current readings. 

“This may sound weird,” Cecile stated, staring at the blue cube. “But the Tesseract seems like a portal, and it finally awoke after being activated. It also…” She paused unsurely. “Seems like it’s alive….”

“Hmm, that is an interesting idea, I’ll try running a scenario on the side for that,” Salvig stated, pulling it up after imputing some calculations into the computer. 

“Doctors, it’s spiking again,” a blond woman in front of a monitor stated loudly. 

“Excuse me,” Salvig said, going to the woman, leaving Cecile at the monitor, to watch the data. 

Cecile was a quick learner and grasped how to use the technology a lot easier than most would in her situation. She flicked through the data and pulled up the heat signature the Tesseract was giving off, before looking towards Barton and Fury who were standing a safe distance away from the cube. 

As if on instinct, Cecile walked towards the cube, something was calling her. Was it the cube? She could only speculate that answer as she felt the ground start to shake and saw the Tesseract start to spark and let out pulses of energy. Cecile stopped beside Barton and Fury who looked on towards the Tesseract, on edge and waiting for something to happen. 

All of a sudden the cube blasted a beam towards where a circular podium was placed. A spherical orb started to form and Cecile could see the vastness of space through it. She could feel the energy within her rising, her senses were spiking, and her eyes were turning the bright color of the tesseract. She couldn’t move, she was frozen on the spot, and she couldn’t breathe. 

The orb broke, and let off a forceful blast that didn’t even phase the woman, she just stood there, eyes trained on the figure standing at the podium who was smoking slightly. He had an eerie grin on his face as his bright green eyes observed everyone in the room. She could hear him breathing, almost heavily. He was definitely not of this world if that wasn’t an obvious fact with his odd green and gold attire. 

Cecile could hear Fury, but couldn’t understand him, his words sounded so foreign to her, and she looked towards him bewildered and slightly afraid. Had that blast done something to her? 

She then looked back at the man, who was looking at the spear before forcing it forward, allowing a large pulse of energy shoot towards Fury. Cecile would have blocked Fury if Clint hadn’t already done so, though, she ducked regardless. 

Guards soon started shooting at the man, who only deflected the bullets and sent them right back at the guards, killing them. He then sent off a few pulses at guards and scientists, causing either instant death, or knocking them unconscious from the blast. 

Cecile slowly stood, anger flaring up inside of her, her eyes growing more piercing and overtaking her pupils until all that was left was glowing bright blue orbs, spiraling with energy and what seemed like galaxies. She watched as the man placed the spear against Clint’s chest, and a blue glow enveloped the tip, traveling into Clint, causing his eyes to turn pure black, then go to a hazy blue, similar to the Tesseract. She took a step forward, the man obviously sensing the danger from Cecile, so he sent a blast her way, sending her skidding and stunning her, but not knocking her down.

The man then did what he did to Clint to another man, before stopping and looking towards Fury. He said something, but it fell onto Cecile’s deaf ears, the voice of the Tesseract was talking so loudly, but incomprehensibly, that she could only solely hear it. It was so beautiful, and melodic, like the voice of what she thought God would sound like. 

_Look._

She turned towards the building energy that was starting to eat away at the ceiling and stared in awe, almost completely unaware of her surroundings until she heard a gunshot and whipped around to see Fury on the floor, and four men, including Barton and Doctor Selvig, leaving with the Tesseract. With it gone she gained a few her senses back. If she hadn’t known Fury was alive, she would have immediately went after the men, but instead tried speaking to Fury, only to have him look at her very confused before pulling the bullet out of his vest and radioing someone, most likely Maria Hill, if Cecile had to take a guess. 

Cecile helped Fury up and followed behind him as they headed up the spiral staircase, towards, what she assumed, was the helicopter on the roof. Both of them continued to run forward, avoiding any falling pipes or fried and sparking electrical wires. They got to the roof and hopped in the helicopter as soon as the roof started to crack and implode on itself after the shockwave of energy blasted, causing every sense in Cecile’s body to skyrocket all in one moment then crash back to normal, causing her to cover her mouth to keep from screaming in pain and vomiting. Her breathing was heavy and she was shaking. That energy was the equivalent to a drug, and now she was certainly going to pay for it in the upcoming hours. 

Cecile watched as Fury took out his pistol and opened the hatch on the helicopter as the truck Barton, the man, she now knew as Loki, Salvig, and the guard were in, was approaching. He shot at them a few times, before Loki shot a pulse at the helicopter, causing it to spin out. Fury grabbed Cecile’s arm and jumped from the helicopter, landing harshly on the ground.   
Fury let off a few more shots before standing, and answering Coulson over the radio, who was asking for Fury. 

“The Tesseract is with a hostile force,” Fury stated into the radio. “I have men down. Hill?”

“A lot of men still under. Don’t know how many survivors.” She responded. 

“Sound a general call. I want every living soul not on rescue searching for that briefcase.” Fury ordered.

“Roger that,” Hill responded. 

“Coulson, get back to base. This is a level seven.” Fury stated. “As of right now, we are at war.” 

“What do we do?” Coulson asked. Fury just looked onward and lowered the radio. 

Cecile sighed, and just lied back on the ground. “I’ll be here, on the ground, waiting to get into something I didn’t want to get into in the first place.” She said bitterly.


	8. Withdraw

“I’m fine,” Cecile growled, pushing away some nurses that were fussing over her. They, being SHIELD, were worried about the after-effects of the Tesseract on her. She was suffering from major withdrawal symptoms and was in the hospital for a few days. 

“That’s what someone who isn’t okay would say,” one of the nurses, Cecile found her name to be Claire Temple, said, reading her vitals and adjusting the amount of fluids flowing into her veins. Claire shooed the other nurses away, who happily left, not wanting to deal with the unruly patient any longer. 

“Look, I know that you have to do this, but I’m fine, honestly,” Cecile stated, going to pull out the needles in her arms, only to be stopped by the dark-haired nurse. 

“Do I need to sedate you again?” She asked smugly, causing Cecile to growl and sink lower into her bed. 

“For a nurse, you’re quite evil,” Cecile muttered, pulling the blanket up to her mouth. Claire only shook her head and exited the room just as Maria Hill walked in. 

“How are you doing?” She asked, going to sit in the chair sat beside the bed. 

“I’m fine, as I’ve been repeatedly telling these kind nurses,” Cecile grumbled, readjusting to a sitting position, and groaning from the pain shooting up her spine. Apparently, that much power is not something a mortal body can handle. Even one with the super soldier serum. 

“Well, I was just going to tell the hospital to release you, due to the fact that we need you on the helicarrier,” Hill stated, leaning back, watching Cecile itch her head. 

“I’ll do anything to get a nice hot shower,” Cecile stated, going to pull the needles from her arm, which she succeeded in doing, and got out of bed, cringing as her stomach felt like it was doing flips. She stood there for a moment, and Maria helped her get dressed. “You’re sure the hospital will allow this?” 

“It’s already been taken care of,” Maria stated, following the limping woman to the jet black van waiting outside the hospital. Maria opened the door and allowed Cecile to get in. “You’ll be taking a jet back with Coulson.” 

Cecile sighed and gave her a two-fingered salute before closing the door and motioning for the driver to go. 

-o-o-

It had been twenty minutes and neither Steve nor Cecile said anything to each other. “You’re looking worse for wear.” Steve finally spoke up. 

“I could say the same to you, but you’re more put together than me,” Cecile said back, trying to avoid looking at him directly, not wanting him to see her dark bloodshot eyes. Coulson decided to interrupt after being told by the pilot that they were forty minutes out. Steve went back to looking at the see-through tablet. 

“So this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?” Steve asked Coulson, who was hanging onto one of the overhead bars to keep steady. 

“A lot of people were,” Coulson stated. “You were the world’s first superhero.”

Steve looked back down at the tablet as it showed video of a large green humanoid creature. 

“Banner thought Gamma radiation would unlock the key to Erskine’s original formula.” Coulson explained.

“Didn’t really go his way, did it?” Steve asked rhetorically. 

“Not so much,” Coulson responded. “When he’s not that thing though, guy’s like a Stephen Hawking.” 

Both Cecile and Steve looked at Coulson slightly confused, not knowing anything past WWII. “He’s… like a smart person,” Coulson tried to explain, a little flustered. 

Steve nodded and looked back at the tablet. Cecile sat back a little more, trying to alleviate the pain in her chest, and fiddled with the phone Natasha had gotten her. She had shown her the basics but told Cecile that she needed to figure the rest out herself. 

“I’ve gotta say… It’s an honor to meet you… officially,” Coulson said nervously, smiling at Steve. Steve put the tablet down on his lap and looked towards Coulson with a polite smile. “ I sort of met you, I mean… I watched you, while you were sleeping…”

Cecile looked up from her phone with a grin and bit her lip to keep from laughing at Steve’s change in facial expression, from polite to slightly creeped out, his eyes kept flicking over to her for help, but received none. 

“I-I mean i was present…” Coulson tried to explain as Steve stood up and moved towards Cecile’s side of the jet then towards the front. “While you were unconscious… from the ice…. Y-You know, it’s really, it’s just a...just a huge honor to have you on board.”

“Well, I hope I’m the man for the job,” Steve stated, resting his hand against the entryway leading to the front of the plane, Coulson was doing the same thing, mimicking the captain. 

“Oh, you are,” Coulson reassured with a nod. “Absolutely. Uh, we made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.”

“Uniform?” Steve questioned, giving a confused frown. “Aren’t the stars and stripes a little… old-fashioned?”

“With everything that’s happening… with the thing’s about to come to light… people might just need, a little old-fashioned.” Coulson responded. 

“Miss. Keane, or should I say, Nightingale, we didn’t forget about you either,” Coulson stated, his tone a little happier. 

“Woah, woah,” Cecile stated, holding up a hand. “Nightingale?”

“Yeah, that’s what people started calling you after the Captain and you went down,” Coulson responded. “They said that your voice was like oozing honey that could trap any man you wanted, and the way you fought was as fluid as a bird floating through the air.” 

Cecile laughed and wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. “Who the hell said that?”

“The Howling Commandos,” Coulson responded and Cecile shook her head and gave Steve a sideways glance. He was smiling slightly, seeming to remember them just as she was. 

“Well, that’s bullshit,” Cecile stated, grunting as she got up from her seat as the jet was preparing for landing. “Anyways, I hope you didn’t give me wings, those would be a hindrance.” 

Coulson smiled slightly, almost like he had actually thought about it before the plane landed on a carrier ship in the middle of the ocean. The three of them exited the jet with Coulson now adorning a pair of aviators and stepped in front of Natasha. 

“Agent Romanoff,” Coulson greeted and nodded towards Steve. “Captain Rogers, and you already know Miss Keane.”

“Ma’am,” Steve greeted respectfully. 

“Hi,” Natasha stated, then turned to Coulson. “They need you on the bridge, they’re starting the face trace.” 

“See you there,” Coulson stated, walking away. Natasha gave Steve a quick once-over before she started walking.

“It was quite the buzz around here, finding you two in the ice,” Natasha said with a grin. “I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.” 

Steve smiled and both Cecile and he followed along beside her. “Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

“Trading cards?” Steve asked, amusement in his voice and his face forming a smile.

“They’re vintage,” Natasha stated, matter-of-factly. “He’s very proud.”

“Doctor Banner,” Steve called out as they got closer to a man in a fading grey suit and purple dress shirt. He looked lost and very agitated as he watched the abundance of people buzz around him like bees.

“Oh, yeah, hi,” Bruce Banner greeted, approaching the trio and shaking Steve’s outstretched hand. Bruce did the same for Cecile who also gave a polite smile. “They told me you’d be coming.”

“Word is you can find the cube,” Steve stated, and Banner looked a little nervous, scanning everywhere around him. 

“I-Is that the only word on me?” He asked, squinting a bit in the sunlight. 

“The only word I care about,” Steve responded, causing Bruce to nod. Bruce motioned to the helicarrier before speaking. 

“It must be strange for you two… with all this,” Banner stated, and started to walk with Steve and Cecile. 

“Well, this is actually kinda familiar,” Steve responded, looking around at all the people and objects. 

“Gentlemen and madam, you may want to step inside in a minute,” Natasha stated coming up to them after speaking with the bridge. “It’s going to get a little hard to breathe.” 

The trio looked slightly confused at her words before a siren sounded, and the ship started to shift beneath them. “Is this a submarine?” Steve questioned. 

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Cecile said quietly, moving towards the edge of the ship. 

“Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized container?” Banner asked following Cecile along with Steve. 

“Wow,” Cecile gasped in awe, as the ocean around them started bubbling and swirling as huge propeller like objects rose up from below. The stated spinning and raising the ship slightly, little by little. 

“Ah’na, this is much worse,” Banner stated, a nervous smile on his face as he watched the turbines spin. 

Natasha motioned for the trio to follow her inside, and they all did so. A few hallways and an elevator ride later, they were on the bridge and were greeted by an abundance of people, all busily working at their stations or moving about like a hive of bees. Cecile stayed close to Steve and noticed that Banner chose the spot farthest away from everyone in the room. She didn’t question it and figured he had his reasons. 

Both Cecile and Steve looked around in awe. “This is amazing,” She whispered to him, and he only nodded in agreement, stunned. 

“Gentlemen, and Miss Keane,” Fury said, walking away from his control console in the center of the room. Steve pulled out some cash from his pocket and handed Fury a ten dollar bill. He looked a little smug for a moment before Steve continued forward to where Fury was standing and Cecile followed along, a little out of her element. 

“We’re sweeping every accessible camera on the planet.” Cecile heard Coulson talking and tuned in to the conversation. “Cell Phones, laptops, if it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

“It’s still not gonna find him in time,” Natasha stated. 

“You’ve got to narrow your field,” Banner spoke up. “How many spectrometers do you have access to?” 

“How many are there?” Fury asked. 

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least, we could rule out a few places,” Banner said, all while taking his coat off and crumpling it up into a ball. Fury nodded. “You have somewhere for me to work?”

“Agent Romanoff,” Fury called. “Would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please.” 

Cecile watched Bruce and Natasha walk off.  
-o-o-

“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble,” Coulson stated from Steve’s left side. Cecile was on his right, leaning against the railing, listening to their conversation about the trading cards. She had just gotten back from taking a shower and her hair was still a little damp. 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Steve stated softly. 

“It’s a vintage set,” Coulson said admiringly. “Took me a couple’a years to collect them all.” 

The air around them was full of an awkward tension, and Cecile couldn’t help but smile. “You’re mint, slight boxing around the edges but-” Coulson started before he was interrupted by a bald man with glasses. 

“We gotta hit,” He said. “Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, crossmatch, seventy-nine percent.” 

Coulson walked over to inspect the screen. “Location?”

“Stuttgart, Germany,” the man responded. “28 Koenigstrasse. He’s not exactly hiding.”

“Captain, Keane,” Fury stated, getting Steve’s and Cecile’s attention. “You’re up.” 

Steve nodded and Cecile gave a two-fingered salute. “Aye aye, sir.” She stated, following Steve. 

“You sure you’re fit for a fight?” Steve asked, a little concerned. 

“I’m as ready as I'll ever be,” Cecile responded, brushing him off as they entered a room full of tactical gear. In front of them both was Captain America’s uniform, and beside it, Nightingale’s. 

“Black and Silver, fitting, I guess,” Cecile stated, taking the uniform down from the rack. It was made of a flexible metal-like substance, that was equivalent to a light fabric. There was a cloak attached to it with a mask to cover the bottom portion of her face. To keep the cloak attached, there was a broach with the SHIELD insignia on it. 

“I thought the purple was better,” Steve commented as she went to close the doors. 

“The purple was an accident,” Cecile stated, stripping from her worn T-shirt and jeans. 

“Do you not like purple?” Steve asked, taking a small peak at the slender woman who just shot him a look before turning back to finish putting on her uniform. 

“Wasn’t my first choice in color scheme,” She responded. “Would have gone with a black, or dark blue myself. Easier to fit in with the dark. Or maybe a chameleon suit, Natasha explained to me what that was.”

“Spare me the technical details,” Steve chuckled lightly. 

Both finished putting their gear on and Cecile grabbed her electric batons, that SHIELD so graciously upgraded, and placed the small pouch of chemicals on her hip. Steve grabbed his shield and attached it to his back.

Cecile stuffed their clothes into a container and put it on a shelf to retrieve later, they were in a hurry, after all.


	9. Take Him Down

Cecile jumped down after Steve deflected the blast from the old man. Her blond hair done up in a roll, that she was used to doing during her time in the war. Her mask was over her nose and mouth, yet her eyes were fiercely blue, but not the color of the Tesseract. Natasha warned her about using the power, saying it could completely put her out of commission, and Cecile really didn’t want that. 

Loki looked up from his position on the ground and Steve and Cecile walked towards him. “Ya’ know, the last time I was in Germany, it saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing,” Steve stated, walking through the crowd.

“The soldier and the bird,” Loki sneered with a laugh afterward. He stood, using his spear for support. “The man and woman out of time.” 

“We’re not the ones who are out of time,” Steve stated. 

“I mean honestly, if anyone is out of time here it’s you, Loki,” Cecile quipped, crossing her arms, noticing Natasha come up with the jet behind them. 

“Loki, drop the weapon, and stand down,” Cecile heard Natasha say over the intercom on the plane before he quickly blasted at her with the spear. 

Steve threw his shield at Loki, which deflected off of him. Cecile quickly started to steer the hysterical crowd away from the fighting. Which happened a lot faster than she thought it would, before taking her baton’s out and lighting them up. She saw Loki hit Steve back, sending him flying, and took the opportunity to whack Loki in the arm, only to have him hit her back with the spear a couple meters. 

"What happened to that power little bird?" He taunted before turning back to Steve.

Steve threw his shield again which got bounced off to the side, leaving Steve with just his fists. He ducked when Loki went to kick him, and Cecile decided it would be a good time to also try to get a kick in, which was again, blocked by the spear. 

Loki sent Steve flying again with another hit to the gut with the spear, and Cecile hit Loki with her baton, causing anger to flash through his eyes, and hit her back with as much force as he could muster, sending her skidding across the ground. 

She recovered quickly as she saw Steve kneeling in front of Loki, only to push him away and send a kick his way. Cecile rushed Loki, when he threw Steve, causing Steve to roll away. She rammed the baton into his side and was just about to press the button to send the electricity though when the sound of music distracted her momentarily, causing Loki to gain the upper hand and he sent her flying in the same general direction as Steve. 

Both Cecile and Steve rolled over, only to see Loki get blasted backward, by none other than Iron Man himself. They watched as he landed on the ground. 

“Make your move reindeer games,” Tony threatened, pointing every weapon on his suit at Loki. Both Cecile and Steve joined Stark after Steve picked up his shield. Loki’s powers slowly faded and he held his hands up in defeat. Tony put away his weapons and said. “Good move.” Just as Natasha was bringing the jet around. 

Steve let out a slightly frustrated and tired sigh. “Mr. Stark.” 

“Cap’n,” Tony responded. Cecile shook her head and turned away to wait for Natasha to land the plane. 

After she did so, they restrained Loki and put him in the plane. Cecile went and sat down in the seat across from the prisoner, and crossed her arms and legs, glaring at him. They took off a little while later to go back to the helicarrier. Cecile watched Steve and Tony at the front of the plane. They were both looking out the front window, where Natasha was currently talking to Fury. Cecile could pick up the tone from her spot, but decided not to pry. 

Cecile continued to watch the two men whisper back and forth, not really wanting to pay attention to their bickering and obvious distaste for one another. Tony looked smug and confident as ever and Steve just looked plain annoyed and a little frustrated. All of a sudden lightning started flashing around the jet, and Cecile sat forward, slightly on edge, that wasn’t normal lightning. 

“What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve taunted, as both him and Tony looked towards Loki. 

“I’m not overly fond of what follows,” Loki responded, watching the door. Cecile frowned and buckled herself in. A loud thunk was heard from the top of the plane, causing it to jerk down slightly. Tony prepared for action and quickly put on his helmet. Loki looked overly agitated, and not looking forward to coming into contact with what was on the outside of the plane. 

Tony pressed the button to open the back hatch on the plane, Steve had just finished putting his mask on and called out to Tony. “What are you doing?”

A long blond haired man with a red cape, Cecile could only assume was the God of Thunder, Thor, landed in the now open hatch of the plane and stared angrily at Tony. Thor used his hammer and rammed it into Tony’s chest, sending him flying into Steve, who were now both on the floor of the jet. Cecile knew better than to mess with a God, so she sat there, slightly stunned, but none too surprised, as Thor ripped Loki from the seat, and used his hammer to fly off with him. 

“And now there's that guy,” Tony stated. 

“Another Asgardian?” Natasha asked from the front. 

“Thor,” Cecile called back. 

“That guy a friendly?” Steve asked. 

“Doesn’t matter, if he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost” Tony responded, walking towards the opening. 

“Stark, we need a plan of attack,” Steve stated. 

“I have a plan. Attack,” Tony stated before flying out of the jet. Cecile groaned, and unbuckled herself from the seat and helped grab a parachute for Steve. 

“I’d sit this one out, Cap,” Natasha stated from the front, reaching for some buttons above her. 

“I don’t see how I can,” Steve stated, as Cecile helped him fasten the belts. 

“These guys come from legend, they’re basically gods,” Natasha stated, a little frantic. 

“There’s only one god ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that,” Steve retorted, just as Cecile finished tightening a strap. She stopped him for a moment and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. 

“Stay safe,” she said. 

“Will do,” He responded, jumping from the plane. Cecile closed the hatch and sat back in one of the chairs. 

“What was that about?” Natasha asked with a knowing smirk. “Is there some sort of tension between the two of you I’m missing?” 

“That was nothing,” Cecile responded with a frown. “And if by tension you mean a platonic kiss on the cheek, then yes, you’re missing out.” 

“Oh, come on, Cecile, I bet you had the hots for him even before the war,” Natasha’s grin grew wider, but faded as she saw the look in Cecile’s eyes. 

“At one point yes,” Cecile said quietly, “but he loves someone else, still does, and probably will for a very long time. And the same goes for me, my lover is long dead, and his is barely grasping at life. She is at the end of her time. We are just beginning ours. We are out of our element, out of our time, and we have long since left the hearts and minds of those who cared for us back then.” 

“Cecile I-” Natasha tried to apologize but Cecile interrupted her. 

“No need for that,” She said quickly, letting a sigh escape her lips as Natasha descended to pick up the boys on the ground as well as the prisoner. 

-o-o-

“He really grows on you doesn’t he?” Bruce asked after listening to Fury and Loki converse from the safety of the control center. 

“Loki’s going to drag this out,” Steve said with a sigh, staring at where the projection on the table was just moments ago. Cecile had her feet on the table and was leaning back in the chair beside Steve, picking at the dirt under her nails. “So, Thor, what’s his play?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri,” Thor stated, looking contemplative as he stared into the distance, before turning towards the group. “They’re not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army? From outer space?” Steve asked, trying to comprehend Thor’s words. 

“So, he’s building another portal,” Bruce stated, taking off his glasses and folding them up. “That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor questioned, surprised. 

“He’s an astrophysicist,” Bruce stated simply, looking towards the large Asgardian.

“He’s a friend,” Thor stated, looking slightly perturbed. 

“Loki has ‘em under some kind of spell,” Natasha finally spoke up.” Along with one of ours.”

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him,” Steve pondered. “He’s not leading an army from here.”

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki,” Bruce said, using his glasses to gesture as he spoke. “That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him.” 

Cecile snorted at Bruce’s comment, before coughing to cover it up. Thor seemed to grow agitated at Bruce’s comment and Cecile straightened up and took her feet off the table. 

“Have care how you speak,” Thor stated. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days,” Natasha stated, shooting a glare at Thor. 

“He’s adopted,” Thor suggested his agitation all but disappearing, causing Cecile to relax again and rub her bruised arm.

“I think it’s about the mechanics,” Bruce stated. “Iridium, what do they need the iridium fo-”

“It’s a stabilizing agent,” A cocky voice sounded from the doorway. Everyone looked over, and low and behold, guess who decided to make an appearance. Anthony “Tony” Stark. 

“Well, guess who decided to show up,” Cecile stated, figuring things were probably going to get a little more interesting now that the eccentric billionaire was in the room. 

“Means, portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD,” Tony finished explaining after whispering a few things to Coulson. He continued to walk forward and patted Thor’s arm with the back of his hand. “No hard feelings point break, you’ve got a mean swing.” 

“Also, means the portal can stay open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants.” Tony continued, standing at Fury’s command panel and ran off a few orders that caused almost everyone to stop what they were doing, go silent, and stare at him. 

“That man is playing Galaga!” Tony exclaimed, pointing towards the man. Steve looked surprised and looked over, Cecile just rolled her eyes, everyone seemed to go back to work after his outburst. “Thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did.” 

Tony then held his left hand up to his left eye and covered it before putting it down again and limply pointing at the left-hand monitors. “How does Fury even see these?” Tony questioned. 

“He turns,” Maria quipped. Cecile had noticed her approach earlier and almost greeted her, had it not been for the conversation going on around her.

“Sounds exhausting,” Tony stated, tapping at the monitors and occasionally swiping. Cecile watched his movements closely and noticed how something left his hand and attach itself to part of the monitors base. She decided to leave it, assuming Tony knew what he was doing. “The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he needs is a power source, of high energy density. Somin’ ta,” Tony made a gesture with his hands. “To kickstart the cube.” 

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Maria asked, her arms crossed, and suspicion written across her face. 

“Last night,” Tony retorted smugly, his hands shoved into his pants pockets. Maria didn’t look convinced. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers, am I the only one who did the reading?” 

If Cecile could roll her eyes back further in her head she would definitely be seeing the backside of her eye sockets by now. 

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve questioned

“He’d have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coolum barrier,” Bruce stated. Cecile was following along quite well to what they were saying, considering, she too, had read Selvig’s notes. 

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect,” Tony said, walking towards the table where the group was conversing. 

“Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet,” Bruce explained. 

“Finally, someone who speaks English,” Tony stated, going to shake Bruce’s hand. 

“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked. Cecile leaned towards him slightly and whispered in layman's terms what they were talking about. He nodded, seeming to understand a little.

“Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube,” Fury stated, entering the bridge and addressing Tony. “I was hoping you and Miss Keane might join him.” 

“I’d start with that stick of his, it may be magical, but it works a whole lot like a HYDRA weapon,” Steve suggested. 

“That is true, apart from being magical, sorry Steve,” Cecile stated. “But, they shoot off the same type of energy pulses.” 

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Fury said, in response to Steve. “But it is powered by the cube. And I’d like to know how he used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor questioned. “I do not underst-”

“I do!” Steve exclaimed, a little too quickly, pointing his finger towards Fury. He put his hand down and looked around at everyone. “I-I understood that reference.” 

“Shall we play it, Doctor and madam?” Tony asked, going over and placing a hand on the back of Cecile’s chair, who got up. 

“This way,” Bruce stated, motioning with his hand down a hallway.


	10. Reunion

Bruce took out a gamma radiation scanner and waved it across Loki’s scepter. Cecile was fishing around in the drawers, trying to find just a regular notepad and pen. She much rather preferred them to those computer monitors that were still way too complicated for her to use properly. 

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports of the Tesseract,” Bruce stated, looking at the readings on his monitor. 

“I could have told you that,” Cecile muttered in French, moving to another set of drawers. 

“But it’s going to take weeks to process,” Bruce finished. 

“If we bypass their mainframes to a direct route to the homer cluster we can clock this at around 600 teraflops,” Tony stated. Bruce let out a chuckle. 

“All I packed was a toothbrush,” He said. 

“Ya’ know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You’d love it, it’s Candyland.” Tony said, moving across the room to where Bruce was. 

“Thanks, but, the last time I was in New York I kind of… broke… Harlem,” Bruce stated logging data. 

“Well, I promise a stress-free environment, no tension, no surprises,” Tony said, poking Bruce with a small, metal rod that let off a small pulse of electricity. 

“Ow!” Bruce exclaimed, looking towards Tony. 

“Anthony,” Cecile warned from across the room. He waved her off. 

“Nothin’?” Tony asked Bruce.

“Hey! Are you nuts?” Captain America himself asked, walking into the room, angry. Cecile rubbed her face as Tony said something she didn’t quite catch before talking louder to Bruce. 

“You really have gotten a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?” Tony questioned. 

“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve asked, frustrated. Cecile went and stood beside Steve, slipping her hands into her jean pockets and watching the two, waiting to see if she would have to break up an argument. 

“Funny things are,” Tony responded. 

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny,” Steve said, reprimanding Tony. Not that dear Anthony was truly listening. “No offense Doc.”

“I-It’s alright, I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things,” Bruce said, typing away at his computer, seemingly trying to ignore the two opposing men. Tony chuckled a little bitterly. 

“You’re tiptoeing, big man, you need to strut,” Tony said, directed towards Bruce while walking around the lab table. 

“And you need to focus on the problems, Mr. Stark,” Steve said, his tone a little harsh. 

“You think I’m not?” Tony asked. “Why did Fury call us in? Why now and not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables,” Tony stated, grabbing a bag of blueberries before going back to Bruce’s side. Steve seemed to mull over Tony’s words and seemed to be trying to answer the questions himself, and coming up with more questions than answers. 

“You think Fury's hiding something?” Steve asked, his voice coated in suspicion. 

“He’s a spy,” Tony stated. “Captain, he’s the spy. His secrets have secrets.” Tony threw a couple blueberries into his mouth. “It’s buggin’ him too, innit?”

“Uh…” Bruce said nervously, waving his hands around his station.”I just wanna finish my work here… and-”

“Doctor,” Steve interrupted, causing Bruce to sigh and take his glasses off. 

“Phase two...” Cecile muttered under her breath, just loud enough for herself to hear, she remembered Fury mentioning it back before the base imploded. Cecile was still new to this world, and she still wasn’t very trusting of the people in it and what their intentions were. Not Fury. Not Tony. Not even Natasha. The only person she remotely trusted was Steve.

“‘A warm light for all mankind,’ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube,” Bruce stated. Cecile tuned back in. 

“I heard it,” Steve said, showing he was listening to Bruce. 

“Well, I think that was meant for you,” Bruce said, pointing at Tony, who held out the blueberries to him. Bruce took a few before continuing. “Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news.”

“The Stark Tower?” Steve asked. “That big, ugly-” Tony gave him an annoyed look. “Building in New York?”

“It’s powered by an arc reactor, self-sustaining energy source,” Bruce continued. “That building will run itself, for what, a year?”

“It’s just the prototype,” Tony responded, shrugging. “I’m kinda the only name in clean energy right now, is what he’s getting at.”

“So, why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?” Bruce questioned. 

“I could give you a couple reasons,” Cecile said quietly in French, just loud enough for Steve to hear, causing his lip to turn up just slightly. 

“I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” Bruce continued. 

“I should probably take a look into that once my encryption program finishes breaking into SHIELD’s secure files.” Tony said, walking around Bruce to the front of the table while looking at his phone. 

“I’m sorry did you say-” Steve started. 

“J.A.R.V.I.S has been running it since I hit the bridge,” Tony interrupted, Cecile frowned at the name. She had known the actual Jarvis, albeit shortly, she still knew him, and she wondered why Tony’s system was named that, she would have to ask him later. “In a few hours, I will know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?”

“Yet, you're confused about why they didn’t want you around,” Steve stated.

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome,” Tony retorted. 

“I think Loki is trying to wind us up,” Steve admitted. “This is a man who is trying to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused he may succeed. We have orders. We should follow them.”

Tony made a slightly disgusted face before placing more blueberries in his mouth. “Following isn’t really my style.” 

Steve let out a small sigh. “And you’re all about style, aren’t you?” 

“Out of everyone in this room, who is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?” Tony questioned, causing Steve to look slightly more stoic and to clench his jaw. Cecile placed a hand on Steve’s arm before shooting a glare at Tony. 

“Steve,” Bruce stated, causing the man to look over. “Tell me none of this doesn’t smell a little funky to you.”

Steve looked back at Tony for a moment and said. “Just find the cube,” before walking off. Cecile turned to Tony. 

“That was a little uncalled for,” She spat, before going to follow the man. He was stood outside the door, looking back and forth in the hallway, seeming to be deciding something in his head. “Steve.”

He looked at her for a moment before motioning with his head to follow. She did just that.

They walked for a while down various hallways. Large and small corridors alike. And maybe even broke into a few places. When they finally reached a door that read: SECURE STORAGE 10-C, they stopped. 

“Gimme a hand,” Steve said, starting to pry the door open. Cecile joined him, both were straining until they heard a pop and Steve slid it open. Both of them looked around the dark hallway before entering the storage room filled with thousands of boxes. 

They stepped quietly, noticing a couple agents passing over one of the overhead landings. They waited for a moment until the voices faded. Before Steve jumped up onto the landing above, Cecile right after him. 

“I’ll take right, you take left?” Cecile suggested quietly. 

“Okay, call if you find something,” Steve agreed. 

Cecile and Steve both searched around, finding countless boxes, filled with old tech, some newer than the others. The more they searched, the more boxes they found, filled with HYDRA paraphernalia. Cecile’s ears perked up as she heard Steve’s hand hit particularly hard against one of the edges of a container. She was nearby, looking through another box, before sighing. “They can’t explain why they have this, Steven.” 

Steve looked at her, noticing the growing tiredness forming under her eyes. Black and puffy from days without rest. He knew she was in the same boat as he was. Trying to accept the fact that they were in a new world and that everything they had was either barely there or gone. “No.” 

She was leaning over a box, stray blond tresses hanging in front of her face, her hands gripping the edge so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “I haven’t gotten a chance, to talk to you properly since, you know,” Cecile said, looking at her wristwatch that read roughly midnight. 

“I know, they wouldn’t let me see you, said something about a security risk.” He stated, watching as she bit her bottom lip. 

“It’s what the Tesseract did to me,” She responded, looking towards him, her eyes flashing that familiar glowing blue. “Honestly, I’m not supposed to be fighting, I’m still recovering from the symptoms.” She swallowed. “It’s like a drug, and I can’t get enough of the power.” 

“Cecile-”

“I’m fine, just, can’t use it.” 

He didn’t look convinced. 

“How are you, Steven?” Cecile asked, trying to change the subject. Steve allowed it, not wanting to press her more than he had to. She was the only person who he could trust and he didn’t wanna push it. 

“That shouldn’t be too hard to guess,” He said, walking over to her. 

“Heard from Fury you went to a cabin for a while,” She said, shifting her eyes towards him. 

“Yeah, and you obviously just jumped right in, like usual,” He responded, watching as she moved to face him. 

“No other way,” she said. “After this, though, I think I'll be done, with the whole, ‘save the world’ business, go to school, learn as much as I possibly can, move on.” 

“I’m not sure what I’ll do.” He stated simply with a small shrug. “But I’ll support you in whatever you choose, Cecile.”

She was a little shocked at the use of her first name from him she stared at him with a small smile and nodded.

“Thank you, Steve, that means a lot,” She responded, patting his arm, fingers lingering longer than they should have. “Back to work then?” 

“Right,” He said, looking back at the HYDRA weapons, a deep frown forming on his face.


	11. Loss

Both Cecile and Steve walked into the lab where Fury, Bruce, and Tony were. Steve slammed an old HYDRA weapon down on one of the lab tables. Cecile crossed her arms and glared at Fury. 

“Phase two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was movin’ a little slow for me,” Steve apologized to Tony, not meaning it.

“Weapons based off HYDRA models,” Cecile added. 

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean-” Fury started before Tony spoke over him.

“I’m sorry, Nick. What, were you lying?” Tony asked, pushing a blueprint of a missile that was projected on one of the monitors.

“I was wrong, Director,” Steve said, holding onto his belt buckle. “The world hasn’t changed a bit.” 

“Did you know about this?” Bruce asked Natasha who entered the room along with Thor. 

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor?” Natasha said back, not answering his question. Bruce laughed. 

“I was in Kolkata (Calcutta), I was pretty well removed,” Bruce said. 

“Loki’s manipulating you,” Natasha said carefully. 

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?” Bruce asked, bitterly. 

“You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you,” She responded. 

“Yes, and I’m not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy,” Bruce said back, pointing towards the blueprints. “I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

“Honestly, I would very much like to know as well, Director,” Cecile commented, looking towards him. 

“Because of him,” Fury said, pointing at Thor.

“Me?” Thor asked, confused. 

“Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, that we are hopeless, hilariously, outgunned.”

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet,” Thor stated, a little defensively. 

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you?” Fury asked. “And, you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can’t be matched. They can’t be controlled.”

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve asked.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it,” Thor started. “And his allies, it is a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war.” 

“A higher form?” Steve asked. 

“You don’t mean…” Cecile said quietly. 

“You forced our hand,” Fury said. “We had to come up with som-”

“A nuclear deterrent,” Tony interrupted. “‘Cause that always calms everything right down.”

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark,” Fury responded. 

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-” Steve started before Tony interrupted again. 

“Wait, wait, hold on, how is this now about me?” Tony asked.

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?” Steve asked. 

“I thought humans were more evolved than this,” Thor commented. 

“Excuuuse me, but do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” Fury asked. Everyone was arguing now, and Cecile was trying to keep her temper under control. She walked around everyone in the middle, her mind spinning, like somehow being drawn to something. She couldn’t hear them anymore, her ears were ringing. The sound of her heart playing through with the incessant ringing. 

It was beating quicker now, growing as the tension in the room did, every emotion creating a bigger storm in her brain. Growing with each passing second until her eyes glazed over with that all too familiar blue. She was behind the table that held the scepter now, her fingertips going towards the glowing orb inside the blade. Her heart was racing, feeling as though it was beating so fast it stopped. She needed to escape, she needed to leave, before something happened. She had no idea what her powers could do, not yet anyway, and today wasn’t going to be the day where she blew her top and caused an incident. Her hand was around the scepter now, along with Doctor Banner’s, she was leaning across the table, to keep ahold of it. 

“Doctor Banner, Cecile, put down the scepter,” Steve said. Everyone in the room was on edge and Cecile quickly let go and sped out of the room. She stopped right outside and leaned against the wall of the hallway. Her breathing was erratic and her heartbeat was uneven. She was desperately trying to catch her breath, slow her heart. 

All of a sudden the ship shook and the shock-wave that erupted from the lab knocked her back a bit. This was not going to help her one bit. 

Using the wall as a support, she rounded the corner back into the lab, seeing smoke and shattered glass all on the floor, which was half gone, thanks to the giant hole in it. “Put on the suit,” Steve said to Tony, his voice distressed. 

“Yep,” Tony stated, quickly getting up. 

“You too,” Steve said towards Cecile. He grabbed her arm and also helped Tony along as well. 

The three of them hurried through the ship to where Tony kept his suit after Cecile had quickly slipped hers on, not really caring that the two men were in the same room. It was panic time, and that’s what everyone was doing. 

“Engine three, I’ll meet you two there,” Tony said, before walking down a separate area. Cecile hurried after Steve, who was currently headed towards that very engine. 

“Shit,” Cecile said out loud, listening to the entire ship, trying to figure out the state everyone was in. “Bruce turned.” 

“Great,” Steve muttered, his jaw clenched. They continued forward and reached the door to their destination. Steve and Cecile heard some people from within, calling for help, and Steve pried the door open, and both hurried around the men inside and went to the edge of the blown out portion of the room. 

“Stark!” Steve called off the edge, looking down and trying to keep his balance while holding onto the railing of the yellow ladder. “Stark, I’m here!” 

“Come on, Tony, where are you?!” Cecile exclaimed, standing behind Steve. 

“Good,” Tony responded, zooming in with his suit on and edging closer to the damaged portion of the ship. “Let’s see what we got. Gotta get the superconducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris.”

“I need you two to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position,” Tony said, pointing to it before flying off to fix what he could. Steve jumped up first, using his momentum to swing forward into the room after grabbing onto an extruding pipe. 

The pure adrenaline running through Cecile’s body was the only thing keeping her going at the moment, and she knew it. After she was sure Steve was away from the opening, she hopped up herself, with far more grace, considering she was more flexible than he. 

Steve pulled out the panel and was looking over it with confusion as Cecile hopped up. She leaned over beside him and tried to find what Tony was talking about. But the panel was far more advanced than she had predicted, and neither she nor Steve knew what they were looking for. 

“What’s it look like in there?” Tony asked. 

“It seems to run on some form of electricity,” Steve stated, exasperated as he dropped his hand heavily against his thigh. 

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Tony responded. Tony explained what it looked like to Cecile since she would have more knowledge about what he was talking about looked like. 

“Anthony, from what I can see, the third, fourth, and seventh relays are in the overload position,” Cecile stated, running her fingers along the panel. Tony ran her through the process of resetting them before Steve called out to Tony. 

“Okay, the relays are intact!” Steve said, pushing the panel back in. “What’s our next move?”

“Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I’m gonna have to get in there and push,” Tony stated. 

“Well, once that thing gets up to speed, you’ll get shredded,” Steve said.

“That starter control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and-” Tony started before Steve interrupted. 

“Speak English!”

Tony seemed irritated before asking, “See that red lever?” Steve looked over along with Cecile. “It’ll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word.”

Steve jumped over and stood by it. Cecile stayed put, figuring that she would be back-up just in case something happened. Cecile decided now would be a good time to try to listen to the surroundings inside. She slowed her breathing and her still racing heart enough to where it wasn’t a distraction and closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. 

She could hear everything. The blasts and firing of guns. The giant rage monster going through the floor of the lab. And footsteps, coming near them. Her eyes shot open. “Steve, two men, heavily armored, large gun,” She said quickly, pointing to the lower level.

“Stay put,” He warned, before looking towards the men entering through the opened door. He saw a grenade get thrown, hitting it away from the area Cecile was before jumping to the platform and landing in front of her, causing her to jump back quickly, before he bounded off, jumping off a protruding metal beam, then proceed to punch one of the men in the face using his momentum from falling. 

He then kicked the machine gun out of the other guy's hand, punched him and kneed him in the gut, before throwing him off the edge. “Steve, more are coming!” Cecile called, ducking back behind the wall as she heard gunshots. 

She watched Steve as he jumped up from the bottom with a machine gun and started to fire back at the man firing at him. He was carefully stepping back towards the lever and trying to get out of the range of fire as he continued to fire on the unknown assailant. 

Cecile tried to hear the situation again and noticed that another one of the engines stopped, causing the entire ship to start falling. “Oh, pour l'amour de Dieu*.” She spoke in her native tongue. She grabbed onto anything on the wall that could keep her steady, not paying attention to Steve until she saw him slip from out of the corner of her eye and start falling. 

“Steve!” She screamed, almost going to jump after him had he not pulled out his grappling hook in time to get it to connect to the platform. She was watching both Steve and the man, racking her brain with what she should do. Finally, she pulled out a knife that was concealed in her boot before throwing it at the man, clipping his cheek, and causing a cut. 

“Cap, hit the lever,” Tony stated. 

“I need a minute here!” Steve called. 

“Lever, one of you, now!” Tony said, his voice more distressed. 

“Kind of indisposed at the moment,” Cecile said, stepping back as a spray of bullets came flying at her. She watched as Steve crawled back on the platform, avoiding bullets from the man now. 

“Uh oh,” She heard Tony say quietly before rather loud pinging from the suit, and grunting from him resounded through the headset in her ear. She saw Steve reach up and pull the lever, and soon after Tony came flying straight into the man firing at them, both going back into the hall. 

Both Steve and Cecile sighed at this, before giving each other a quick nod. Cecile jumped over to join Steve with a small smile and checked him over quickly to make sure he was in decent shape. Her smile disappeared, however, when Fury started to speak. 

“Agent Coulson is down.”

“A medical team is on its way to your location.” 

“It’s already here.” He said. “They called it.” 

Cecile inhaled sharply and covered her mouth with her hand. She could see both Steve and Tony deflate slightly at Fury’s words. 

“Etes-vous sûr qu'il est partie? Il est pas une erreur*?” She asked quietly. 

“Yes, it’s not a mistake.” Fury responded. 

*  
[1] Oh, for the love of God.  
[2] Are you sure he 's gone? It is not a mistake?  
-o-o-

Tony, Steve, and Cecile were around the large conference table on the bridge of the helicarrier. They had changed out of their uniforms awhile ago and were all sitting defeated and shocked after hearing the news of Coulson, none of them looking at each other. Fury was standing at the head of the table staring at some cards that were in his hands. 

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket,” Fury stated, before throwing the cards on the table. They were smeared in blood. Coulson’s blood. “Guess he never did get you to sign em.” 

Fury sighed deeply and continued to talk while Steve picked up the card of Captain America and stared at it. “We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothin’ for you. Lost my one good eye… Maybe I had that comin’,” Fury stated, sounding defeated while he leaned against the table. Tony hadn’t moved an inch or even looked up from his spot, turned away from everyone. Steve just placed the card back down before looking up at Fury. Cecile’s hands were clenched tightly in her lap as she stared at the cards on the table. 

“Yes… we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though cause I was playing something riskier.” He paused, moving his way closer to where Steve was seated and gripped one of the office chairs before moving around to stand behind Cecile’s chair. “There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.” 

Tony abruptly stood up before walking out of the room, seemingly done with what Fury had to say. Cecile continued to look at the door Tony left through, even though he was long gone as Fury kept talking. “Well, It’s an old-fashioned notion.” 

“I want to help people,” Cecile said quietly looking towards Fury, determination flicking in her eyes. She remembered back to her room, listening to the crime and the cries for help. She stood and walked right in front of him. “I… I will help people, not for you, not for SHIELD, but for every damn person in this city and this world.”

She quickly turned towards Steve, nodded, and walked out of the room without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I have pre-written, depending on how many people like this will let me know if I should continue. Thanks for reading though!


End file.
